The lived experience of adult participating in make-believe play of young children

Abstract

Research aims at revealing adult experiences of participating in young children's make believe play. The main question is: 'What is the experience like of playing with young children?' Our previous research was focusing on the development of children's self-regulation skills in play activities, and on adult play interventions and strategies supporting the development of children's imaginative play. Data from our research revealed that participation in joint play with children developed new skills in adults. At this stage we are interested to explore how does it feel to be accepted by the child. Hermeneutic Phenomenology is our theoretical and analytical framework in this research. Written narratives from three adult researchers participating in the activities of Play research lab are collected. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) is used to analyse the data. Informed consent is obtained from the participants. The main themes and personal meanings of lived experience of participating in young children's play will be revealed. Together with M. van Manen we believe, that phenomenological reflections of lived experience have pedagogical consequence for professional and everyday practical life.