Abstract:

Play, which may be described as a natural occupation by the child, may be perceived differently by parents and teachers. The purpose of the current study is to explore children’s, mothers’ and teachers’ views about play and toys. The study was conducted on eleven children, seven mothers and nine pre-school teachers. Qualitative interviewing is employed as the primary method of data gathering. The results of the study demonstrate that children and mothers perceive play as a product of imagination and cannot think of play as being separate from imagination. All participants drew attention to gaining social skills regarding the importance and necessity of play. Additionally, children mentioned different characteristics of play and toys; mothers and teachers provided similar answers, emphasizing that play and toys should be safe, appropriate for the child’s age and development, help children gain social skills and be fun. In conclusion, it can be argued that the mothers’ responses were based on their observations while the teachers’ responses were based on their theoretical knowledge, and the children’s responses were based on their personal experiences.

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