Differences in Play

Why and how do cultural differences manifest in children’s play?

Evaluate appropriate research evidence to support your answer.

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The cultural settings in which children grow up have profound influences on how

children develop and play.

Penn (2005) described culture as a:

“ ..a conglomeration of different, sometimes incompatible, views and understandings in a

given society or community…..” (Penn, p92).

For this paper I will use Penn’s definition of culture to investigate its influence on

children’s play. Research papers on play and culture point to many causal factors for

cultural differences manifesting in play. This paper will highlight these factors with

research evidence.

One of the factors noted by researchers that can affect play is parental beliefs and

behaviours. Play behaviours are not only influenced by immediate and social context, but

also by the beliefs, attitudes, and values {inner psychology of the parents and teachers

concerning the importance of play in early development} Roopnarine, Shin, Jung and

Hossain (2003).

Adult modelling of children’s play has been investigated in an experimental setting by

Nielson and Christie (2008).

Nielson and Christie investigated the effect on modelling on children’s behaviour. The

children aged 27-41 months were given 4 minutes free play with a dolls house and

associated toy props. An experimenter then acted out a series of scenes using the dolls

involving object substitutions, imaginary play and attribution of properties. The children

were given another 4 minutes of free play {post-modelling). The researcher’s findings

were that:

The children exhibited more pretend play after modelling. The children were also more

likely to generate their own novel pretence, as they were to copy the actions

demonstrated by the experimenter. The children increased the number of novel symbolic

acts involving imaginary play from the pre-modelling phase to the post-modelling phase.

Farver and Lee (1997) studied pretend play amongst Korean-American and Anglo-

American pre-schoolers. The children (46 Anglo-American and 46 Korean-American)

were observed during free play activities and videotaped in an experimental toy setting.

Cultural differences were examined in the frequency of social pretend play,

communicative strategies and pretend play.

The researchers found that the Anglo-American children engaged in more pretend play

during free play activities than Korean-American children. In this experimental setting

there were no cultural differences in the frequency of pretend play. There were however,

significant differences in children’s communicative strategies and in their play themes.

Korean-American children’s play included everyday activity and family role themes. The

Anglo-American children enacted danger in the environment and fantastic themes. The

Anglo-American group also described their own actions and rejected their partner’s

suggestions and used directives. The Korean-American‘s described their partner’s actions

and used tag questions, semantic ties and statements of agreement and polite request. The

study showed that play is a common activity, but the thematic content and the

communication strategies used to structure and maintain pretend play are influenced by

culture.

In an earlier study Farver, Kim, And Lee (1995) found that Korean American children

living in Los Angeles preferred academic activities over play. Here, perhaps we see

children manifesting their parent’s belief in academic achievement at an early age. Even

in societies that are concerned about academic achievement, parents have now placed

play as an important factor for socialisation and self-expression (Holmes 2001). A study

in Japan (Ishigaki and Lin, 2000) found that 67.6% of teachers in Japan, 78.5% in Korea

and 56.7% in China endorsed play as part of the schools curriculum.

Research in experimental settings perhaps has limitations on viewing culture and its

influences on play in a more natural setting. Studies of parent and child play in the home

appear to have some critical value on defining play behaviours. It could be argued that

the variations of play behaviours in culturally diverse children could be rooted in the

child’s experience of parent-child play. Roopnarine and Johnson (2001) catalogued the

incredible variation in the style and the amount of parent-child play across cultures:

Roopnarine (2001) documented studies finding that parent-child play at home had strong

links with the peer social system in a nursery setting. Macdonald and Parke (1986)

researched parent-child interactions of boys aged 3 to 5 at a Californian nursery. The

boys were rejected, neglected or considered popular by their peers. Fathers of neglected

boys engaged less affectively in arousing physical play than the fathers of popular and

rejected boys. There was more over stimulation or parental direction of the rejected boys.

The rejected boys would in turn avoid stimulation or would be less likely to join in

discussions or make suggestions in the classroom setting.

Macdonald and Parke (1986) found that there was also a negative relationship between

physical play and the age of the parent. There were strong gender differences in parental

engagement in physical games with the children, limb movement games, bouncing and

lifting games were more characteristic of the play of fathers. Conventional games like pat

a cake and peek a boo were more characteristic of the play of mothers.

Cross-cultural literature on parent-child rough play is small, but it is interesting.

Roopnarine and Johnson (2001) stated that generally rough play begins in infancy peaks

in pre-school and is uncommon after 10 years of age. Boys are more likely to be the

recipients of physical play than girls.

Roopnarine has carried out extensive research into rough play in Asian cultural settings.

In New Delhi, India, during the infancy period physical play, described here as rough,

tossing, tickling, bouncing, poking was observed in relatively low frequencies: Less than

one incident per one hour of observation. (Roopnarine, Taluker, Jain, Joshi and Sirvastav

1992). In Chi Chi, Dongkong, Taipei and Kalishung, Taiwan, rough play was recorded

on average less than one incident per one hour of observation. (Sun and Roopnarine

1996). Among older children, however, it accounted for about a third of play activities of

mothers and fathers and school children residing in Chang Mai Province in Northern

Thailand. Rough play was still infrequent and researchers recorded lass than one incident

across families in two hours of observations. (Tulananda and Roopnarine 2001).

Parent child games appear to be universal in their common form, but there are noticeable

stylistic differences. Games that involve face-to-face encounters may be more

characteristic of parents and children in some cultures than in others.

Research has revealed profound postural differences in parental engagement across

cultures. Japanese mothers loom in and out, tap infants to create visual displays and hold

and touch the infant continuously. White American mothers use their voice and are more

responsive to the infant’s vocalizations during face-to-face encounters. (Fogel, Nwokah

and Kerns 1993). In India early parent child games involve specific texts. Igbo and

Sinhala mothers include songs, lullabies, poetry or rhymes in face to face encounters

(Roopnarine, et al 1998).

During these playful interactions with their parents they learn and absorb aspects of their

cultures. Roopnarine (1998) summarised the themes that emerged when traditional and

non-traditional cultures were compared:

*Children’s play is more likely to reflect rituals and customs in traditional societies.

* One-to one play is more common in non-traditional societies.

* Group participation, interdependence and community values are transmitted through

play in traditional cultures. Self-reliance, independence and competition are encouraged

by non-traditional cultures.

* In traditional cultures play tends to occur in work-related settings.

* Variations of games such as peek-a-boo and pat a cake played between parents and

their children can occur across traditional and non-traditional cultures. Roopnarine et al.

(1998).

Research on the cultural differences in play has extensively focused on how boys and

girls play differently. Parents have been seen to contribute to the gender role development

of children. Lindsey, Mize, Pettit (1997) examined the extent of mother’s and father’s

involvement in children’s play. The stylistic variations in that play were examined among

pre-school children. The gender differences revealed that boys were more likely to play

more physically than girls and that girls were more likely to engage in pretence play.

Both girls and boys would play at pretend more in the presence of mothers than fathers.

The analysis of parental involvement in this study revealed some interesting stylistic

variations in the parent and child play behaviours. Parents of girls were more likely to be

involved in pretence play than parents of boys. Father’s of boys were more likely to be

involved in physical play than fathers of girls or mothers of boys and girls. Parents of

girls were more likely to comply with their children’s play leads than were parents of

boys. Mothers were more likely to comply with children’s play directives than were

fathers. The data suggests that parents may contribute to children’s gender specific types

of play and influence children by modelling particular play behaviours and/ or providing

differential patterns of reinforcement to sons and daughters. (Lindsey, Mize and Pettit

1997)

Other gender differences emerge in the way girls and boys communicate with their peers

in a play a setting. Serbin et al. (1982) found that girls use polite requests and persuasion

to get what they want in the play situation, whereas boys relied on commands and

physical force.

In observations of children’s play in London inner city schools Sayeed and Guerin (2001)

noted separate play patterns between boys and girls. Boys tended to re-enact fantasy

situations such as fighting, cops and robbers, whereas girls tended to act out real

situations from their immediate culture. Examples of girls play behaviour were feeding a

doll in the role of a mother. Sayeed and Guerin (2001) suggest it was debatable whether

gender preferences for particular types of play were the result of a socialisation process

where expectations around what boys and girls play and how they play are learned. This

is perhaps illustrated in research by Martin and Little (1990), which showed that young

children only needed a rudimentary understanding of gender differences prior to the

children learning about sex stereotypes and prior to showing sex-typed preferences for

peers or toys.

The social class or economic situation that a child is born into can be a contributory

factor in cultural differences in play. Early research viewed children from a low socio-

economic class as being deprived of play or were deficient in imaginative play behaviour

in comparison to their middle-class peers. (Smilansky 1968) Later researchers, Johnson,

Christie and Yawkkey (1987) discussed these controversies and concluded that evidence

suggested that materially deprived children or children from a low social-class engage

differently in imaginative play than middle-class children.

Sutton-Smith and Heath (1981) described differences in imaginative play style related to

culture. They analyzed two styles of imaginative behaviour in the form of story telling.

They compared a sample of stories told by working class black children in Piedmont,

Carolina, and a sample of stories by middle-class white children in New York. Stories

told by the working class Afro-American children tended to be relatively personal and

taken mostly from real-life experiences. The White middle-income group of children told

stories in the third person and which were more fantasy-like in content. Of the New York

stories, 95% were in the third person, but only 30% of stories by the Afro-American

children were. In their study Sutton-Smith and Heath (1982) found evidence of the very

different imaginations that children possessed. The Afro-American children were able to

show their imaginative talents in a more collective context. Sutton-Smith and Heath

suggested that children who come from more orally based than literary based cultures

appear more imaginative and playful when words are the main activity.

Researchers have drawn attention to the cross-cultural link between play and work. The

distinction between play and work become clearer as children age. In the UK the shift

towards less play based activities seems to occur at the transition from pre-school early

years settings to school. (Sayeed and Guerin 2001). Sayeed also suggests that ‘play-time’

during the school day can create the distinction for children of what is play and what is

not play.

Kalliala (2006) focused on hobbies as a direct way for parents to educate their children.

In her study of Scandinavian children she found that many 6 year olds had up to 3 weekly

hobbies e.g. Music, dance or sport after a full day at school or day care setting. Many of

the parents in her study encouraged their children to use technology. The parents believed

that technology would help advancement in their child’s adult life.

Penn (2005) argues that as children age in developing countries like Africa adults are less

likely to play with them. The reasons are given as economic, as parents have little time to

play with children and have to earn a living. From the ages of 5 years children in settings

such as Kenya are given more work according to the seasonal changes of their

environment. (Whiting and Edwards 1988), an example may be tending to animals,

herding, fishing and selling. Children from such communities mimic the adult roles in

preparation for an adult life. (Bloch and Adler 1994).

In both developed and developing countries material poverty does not prevent a child

from playing. The child will develop a sense of playfulness if the environment is

stimulating and will invent simple materials from nature or rejects from adults. (Bloch

and Pelligrini 1989).

Culture and society today is continuously being reshaped as people from different

communities, ethnic backgrounds, religions and countries come into contact with each

other. This is probably seen most obviously within cities where populations become more

diverse with the influx of migrants and refugees. Roopnarine and Johnson 2001 described

children’s play as a ‘social bridge’ between people of diverse cultures, that could help

foster a universal multi cultural education for early year’s settings.

Kalliala (2006) considered urbanisation, changing work patterns of parents and a more

middle-aged population having affected changes in society. Certainly societal influences

on children’s play may now be reflected through changes in family dynamics. Kallila

(2006) found that parents were more likely to adopt the role of a permissive parent,

placing importance on their child’s social skills and individual competence than a more

traditional approach that the child should internalize shared values without questioning

authority. Kallila found that some parents in her study adopted a ‘Pal’ parenting

approach. The ‘Pal’ approach being one of more guidance parents were more friends’

confidants and advisors. Hierarchical orders in the family group were rejected and the

parents appealed to children through discussion. (Kallila, p13).

Most researchers would agree that the status of play is ambiguous and constantly

changing. At an international level the child’s right to play has been recognised in Article

31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Hodgkin and Newell (1998)

proposed that play is exclusively an activity of children without the control of adults or

constraints of rules. Putting these ideals into practise would mean changes in adult

attitudes, resources and government cooperation.

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