The Development of Symbolic Play and Its Relation to Language Deve Lopment and Mother-Child Communication in the Third Year Child

Abstract

The first purpose of this study was to analyze the development of symbolic play from the standpoint of script, and its second was to relate its symbolic play with mother-child communication and language development. Free play of one third-year girl and her mother was longitudinally observed every first month for one year. The observer visited their home and provided them with a set of play materials, and each session was videotaped for 30 minutes. The results showed that three phases were found in symbolic play of the third-year-old. And that each phase corresponded to the peculiar level of mother-child communication and language development respectively. © 1989, The Japanese Association of Educational Psychology. All rights reserved.