We greatly appreciate the astute comments on Lillard et al. (2013) and the opportunity to reply. Here we point out the importance of keeping conceptual distinctions clear regarding play, pretend play, and exploration. We also discuss methodological issues with play research. We end with speculation that if pretend play did not emerge because it…

This essay employs the images and voices of children to describe how their learning about the world is supported as they engage in experiences that invoke creativity and imagination. The author states his belief that this "imagining," this giving body and substance to the nature of "imagination" is one of the foundations of knowing, a means of…

Vivian Gussin Paley is a teacher, writer, lecturer, and advocate for the importance of play for young children. Author of a dozen books about children learning through play, she has received numerous honors and awards including an Erickson Institute Award for Service to Children, a MacArthur Foundation Fellows award, and a John Dewey Society's…

The power of language gives children (and the rest of us) that "magic" talent of bringing to life that which is otherwise hidden from conscious awareness. From the viewpoint of one attempting to listen to children's languaging within experience so that the listening becomes a dialogic experience, the child storyteller seems to experience…

A child's very basic attempts at symbolic transformation hold the essentials of our aesthetic realms of experience: intersubjectivity and imaginative integration. These two essentials are a key in understanding the role of art in establishing meaning in our experiences. (Author/SJL)

Asserts that all children need to have an environment where the act of imagining and imaginative expression are not only respected but are also given visible outlets. (RH)

This description of the development of imagination and fantasy in children outlines how children view their fantasies, imaginings, imaginary companions, and lies at different stages of development. Main topics include (1) the purposes of fantasy; (2) fantasy in preschool children; (3) imaginative games and dramas; (4) promotion or inhibition of…

This reprint of a 1915 conference paper discusses the significance of religion and truth in the context of the mental powers of children, focusing on the unique role of imagination in the psychology of young children. Stresses the importance of developing sound imagination built on the real and concrete models of young children's environment. (MDM)

The intent of this article is to describe the basic processes used by the child in order to create and imagine; to explain the significance of objects for encouraging creativity, imagination, and intellectual growth; and to show how creative thinking is nurtured using the world of objects. Five reasons are advanced to support the claim that the…

Describes four types of play training that teachers can use to help children incorporate into their play the elements of role playing, make-believe transformations, social interaction, verbal communication, and persistence. Types of play training include modeling, verbal guidance, thematic-fantasy training, and imaginative play training. Using…

Examines the role of metaphor and narrative in the interpretive organization of feelings and knowledge, especially in children. Looks at a particular case of figurative speech--a child's storytelling--to show how imaginative narrative may carry important clues about the child's inner world of experience. (MG)

Discusses the importance of a sense of wonder in young children's social and emotional development. Offers ideas for ways in which parents and teachers can help create, nourish, and sustain a sense of wonder in children. (GLR)

Raises concerns about whether literacy-enriched play in early childhood settings is really play. Presents a vignette to illustrate how a teacher can model literacy unobtrusively, thereby enhancing literacy, but unwittingly draw children away from meaningful play activities. Differentiates the cognitive processes involved in play and literacy…

By participating in their children's imaginative play or pretending, parents may be able to understand better their children's feelings, resolve parent-child conflicts, communicate parental values, and build parent-child relationships based on mutual respect. Many people seem to believe that pretending appears automatically in young children, that…

Reexamines Maurice Sendak's first children's book, published in 1956. Finds it to be filled with the characters, themes, and psychological concerns that were to become hallmarks of the writer-artist's mature works. (NKA)