Engaging literacy learners in Conceptual PlayWorlds: Moving from developmentally and culturally appropriate to conceptually appropriate play practices

There is increasing evidence that play stimulates children’s language and literacy learning, with the outcomes enhanced when the play is mediated by adults. Despite cultural-historical research highlighting the impact of engaged adults in children’s play, few models position teachers as active play partners, going on adventures, introducing play problems, and working with concepts to solve them. In this paper, we explore a model of play that begins with book reading and engages adults in children’s conceptual learning within play-based settings. This model, called a Conceptual PlayWorld , offers affordances for advancing children’s literacy learning, with a particular focus on early writing. We discuss the theoretical foundations of a Conceptual PlayWorld alongside examples of teacher practices and children’s engagement in motivated learning drawn from research in preschools and the early years of schooling. During the play, children became composers of text, ascribing meaning to their drawings and mark-making while grappling with the layers of symbolism involved in text production. Our analysis revealed motivating conditions that served as sources of learning, including the play environment and the human relationships and associated adult/child interactions. These conditions appeared to foster the linguistic resources and cognitive capacities associated with early writing. The findings underscore the importance of creating authentic opportunities for children’s text production and learning about writing through supported play, as moments that enable children to develop and extend their early conceptions of writing.