Exploring Children’s Play Culture and Game Construction: Role of Sociodramatic Play in Supporting Agency

The purpose of the study was to explore the sociodramatic play taking place in an early childhood classroom, with a specific focus on the characteristics of play, the game construction process that takes place during play, children’s agency in their play culture, and finally, the role of teachers as adults and as participants serving as guides and facilitators in the play. The study utilized an ethnographic case study approach to uncover play culture within the Little Daisies classroom. The data for the study came from lengthy observations throughout one school year in the classroom of 5-year-old children and semi-structured interviews with children regarding their sociodramatic play. Findings suggest that children constructing “games with rules” is a significant component of the classroom play culture, and non-distracted sociodramatic play provides children with many opportunities to practice their agency and function as social actors in their close environment. The concept of agency, teachers’ beliefs, and executive function skills were used to contextualize sociodramatic play for further discussion.