The relationship between teacher-perceived children's play styles and their pretend play behaviors

This study explored teachers’ perception of play styles and children’s pretend play behaviors. Thirty-five 4-year-old children and 4 lead teachers from a university-affiliated child care center were included in the study. Teachers responded with questionnaires based on their children’s usual play behaviors and interactions with peers. Each child was asked to perform pretend play behaviors with pretend play materials. This study investigated differences among children with teacher-perceived play styles (patterner, mixed, and dramatist) for substitution, property attribution, reference to absent object/person, and scripted play. With the results from the teacher questionnaires, the children were categorized as patterner, mixed, or dramatist. There were no significant differences in children with perceived styles of play for substitution, property attribution, and reference to absent object/person. Dramatists showed a significantly higher performance than patterners and mixed players in scripted play. The findings of this study indicated that children in a preschool have showed their play styles in a pretend play setting. Considering the diversity of ethnic, social, and economic background of the teachers and children, the research results can be applied in different countries and cultures.Curriculum and Instructio