Abstract

Objectives: While play is a frequent activity across childhood it has proven notoriously difficult to define and empirically explore. The current study aimed to develop a coding scheme of directly observable behaviours to enable the study of different components of peer pretend play. Design: The current study adopted an observational paradigm so that pretend play could be observed and coded during peer dyadic interaction. Methods: 234 five year-­olds (Mage = 5.10, SD = .40) were videotaped for 8 minutes while playing with a friend within two counterbalanced pretend play contexts. A coding scheme was developed based on the existing play literature and after observing a pilot sample of play interactions. The final coding scheme included over 30 behavioural indicators of four play components; pretence, amity, positive affect, and play negotiation/coordination. A random subsample of over 15% of children (n = 37) were independently coded by two researchers to examine measurement reliability. Results: The four key components were reliably coded (Kappas .70 to .85). Conclusions: Play with a peer was observed to be an enjoyable activity which affords opportunities to practice a host of interpersonal developmental drivers, such as shared positive affect and perspective-­taking. These clear and observable criteria for assessing the components of play will go some way to unifying the observational research on children’s play, and allow future research to examine the association between children’s play and other key features of social and cognitive development, such as theory-­of-­mind understanding, peer relationships and behavioural problems