Examining Parent–Child Spatial Play Interaction Using Traditional Toys and Touch Screen Tablets

SYNOPSIS Objective . The context of play has changed dramatically over the past decade with the ubiquitous presence of mobile technologies available to children in and outside the home. Despite increasing use of interactive technological devices at home, the quality of parental interactions in these 2D digital play contexts, relative to traditional 3D play contexts, remains relatively unexplored, especially in the domain of geometry. Design . The present study examines parental support and scaffolding of 32 parent–child dyads (16 girls, 16 boys; M age = 51.16 months) engaged in interactive play during two home visits, one involving 3D physical blocks and puzzles and the other with 2D virtual blocks and puzzles presented through apps on a tablet. Parental interactions were assessed for four scaffolding qualities (i.e., affection, encouragement, responsiveness, and teaching) and two interactional styles (i.e., child-directed and parent-directed) for 10 min of each play session. Results . Overall, parents actively scaffolded children with varied positive supports in both play contexts using a predominantly child-directed interactional style. Differences were found for the quality of parental interactions across 3D and 2D play contexts. Fewer parental scaffolds involving responsiveness and teaching were provided in the 2D context. Conclusions . Effective, yet differing, supportive parental scaffolding occurs when parents engage in both traditional and virtual spatial play. Through joint play with their children, parents can support the acquisition of foundational concepts in geometry.