From objects to artefacts to props: The role of objects in infant-toddlers' play and imagination in Conceptual PlayWorlds in family settings

Imagination is considered a highly desired mental function in the 21st century, yet little is known about the emergence of play and imagination in infancy and toddlerhood. This paper reports an educational experiment of We Are Going on a Bear Hunt Conceptual PlayWorlds (CPW) in family settings to explore this under-researched area. Eighteen families with infant-toddlers (18 children 4 to 24 months old, mean age of 10 months) were recruited, with nine families each in the March 2021 and July 2021 rounds. We gathered around 29 h of digitally recorded data through Zoom sessions, 5.5 h of video data collected by families, and 11.5 h of pre and post CPW interviews with families. The data show that with support from adults, infants and toddlers develop their play and imagination, which is reflected through the evolving object-meaning relations regarding how their play and imagination are mediated by material objects and the corresponding roles of objects in play and imagination. Three types of roles of objects in infant-toddlers' play and imagination are reported. It is argued that the roles of objects in play offer new conceptual tools supporting adults in better understanding and supporting infant-toddlers' development of play and imagination.