Sharing Fantasy: Social Pretend Play in Toddlers

HOwEs, CAROLLEE. Sharing Fantasy: Social Pretend Play in Toddlers. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1985, 56, 1253-1258. Social pretend play was observed in groups of well-acquainted toddlers (total N = 43). The children ranged in age from 16 to 33 months at the beginning of the 4-month observation period. Qualities of social play, social pretend play, and strategies for integrating pretense into social play were described. Social play emerged earlier than social pretend play with a similar structure; the incidence of social pretend play increased with age. 4 strategies for integrating pretense into social play were isolated; among them, verbal recruitment and join were found to be more effective than imitation or nonverbal recruitment.