Sibling Pretend Play in Early and Middle Childhood: The Role of Creativity and Maternal Context

“Everything's Upside Down. We'll Call It Upside Down Valley!”: Siblings’ Creative Play Themes, Object Use, and Language During Pretend Play

“…In the limited literature on school-age children's use of adjectives, Maloney and Hopkins (1973) reported a positive association between creativity ratings of stories and the number of adjectives employed (see also Eisenberg et al, 2008). In terms of pretense in sibling play, Howe and Bruno (2010) reported an association between adjective use by 5-year-old younger siblings and creative play themes; patterns for older siblings were more mixed.…”

“…Following Howe and Bruno (2010), we predicted that set-up=organization themes would be negatively associated with expected and creative play themes, whereas the latter themes would be positively PRETENSE AND CREATIVITY associated (Piaget, 1962). We also expected a similar pattern of findings for object use (e.g., set-up object use would be negatively associated with expected and creative object transformations) following from Trawick- Smith (1990).…”

“…Howe and Bruno (2010) speculated that as children enter middle childhood, their symbolic skills become more flexible (e.g., representing one thing with another), which may promote their likelihood of engaging in unique and creative object transformations. A CONTEXT FOR CREATIVITY: THE ROLE OF THEMES, OBJECT USE, AND DESCRIPTIVE LANGUAGE Fein (1987) defined a creative thinker as a person who understands different aspects of a problem or issue and can ponder, visualize, or construct an alternative solution and=or a unique view of the world.…”

The Invisible Kryptonite Among Super Helpers the Healers of Humanity: Advocating for Super Helpers to Practice What They Preach to Clients?

“…Importantly, however, it is the most advanced form of pretend play, referred to as sociodramatic play (i.e., role-playing where you pretend to be another character such as a teacher, doctor, or superhero) that may have the most benefits [92,93]. Those with siblings who frequently engage in advanced pretend play have been shown to display a greater understanding of others' emotions and thinking [73,[94][95][96]. Research suggests that the amount and sophistication of pretend play abilities is related to experiences that children have with family members, such as siblings [84].…”

Sister talk: Investigating an older sibling’s responses to verbal challenges

“…By five years of age, for example, their roleplay with others often includes physically absent third-parties, and their developing symbolic skills enable them to use toys in imaginative ways (Howe & Bruno, 2010). Children's expanding vocabularies and increasingly precise syntax allow for these elaborate play scenarios to be communicated to their playpartners.…”