Conceptual PlayWorld intervention in a toddler playgroup: Creating new conditions for parent-toddler collective imaginary play

Research affirms that when parents play with their toddlers in imaginary scenarios, the play of these infants becomes more sophisticated. From a Vygotskian perspective, the development of imaginary play supports formation of conceptual thinking. However, the majority of Australian parents report low confidence in their ability to support play, and advocate the desire to receive education about how to achieve this. Community playgroup settings offer an opportunity for parent education to be delivered with over a third of Australian children enrolling in this institution before school entry age. Drawing upon a system of cultural historical concepts, this paper reports on how Fleer's Conceptual Playworlds (CPW), an evidence informed model for imaginary play involving adults and children to support conceptual development, was introduced as an intervention into playgroup practice. Over a 6 month period, researchers demonstrated how to implement the approach and recorded the family interactions of two toddlers aged 14 and 15 months. The data shows families engaged with new pedagogic practices supporting children's imaginary play in the collective. We report that as a result of this intervention, parents developed a motive orientation towards imaginary play which created conditions for toddlers to participate in collective imaginary play.