Symbolic creativity in play activity: a critique on playthings from daily life objects to toys

Abstract

Play is an essential activity for children’s development. Children play with daily life objects as well as toys. Daily life with its various objects and practices provides a real freedom for discovery and self-realization. Children celebrate this value through symbolic creativity that flourishes in various play practices, such as symbolic object use, storytelling, animation in special modes of virtualization and actualization, construction with everyday mathematics and puzzling for order in chaos. The study examines a girl’s play activities with daily life things and waste materials between 6 and 8 years of ages. Finally, the study emphasizes that: (1) symbolic creativity is necessary for children’s self-realization and accordingly for their well-being and (2) toys must be selected carefully to stimulate children’s ability to imagine, create and produce.