Date: Tuesday April 14, 2026 at 9am PDT

Guest Speaker: Francine Smolucha

Summary: In this session, we will consider object substitution play as an activity that can occur outside of fully developed pretend play (when there is no role play or play narrative). Such object substitution play does not require an imaginary situation in order to be enacted, but could still use an object to transfer meaning from one object to another in a playful way. For example, when a toddler is carrying a baby doll, the mother might pick up a cylindrical object (block or hair curler) saying “should we feed the baby-let’s pretend” accompanied by the appropriate gesture. [The toddler could also initiate such an action on their own]. Research has shown that such “object substitution symbolic play” furthers language development for autistic children. We will also consider examples of object substitution play as it occurs in playful interactions with infants and toddlers as a precursor to pretend play scenarios. While both Vygotsky and Piaget viewed object substitution play as a defining characteristic of pretend play, it has been marginalized in play-based preschool curricula. Activities will be presented that show how object substitution play can be used to further pretend play, the use of visual and verbal metaphors, and literacy – and to introduce mathematics, the sciences, the arts, and social studies. The Readings recommended beloware just to get the discussion started, I am currently writing a paper for publication that has a more extensive bibliography. 

Zoom Link:  https://zoom.us/j/98564124237 [zoom.us]

Meeting ID: 985 6412 4237

Passcode: Vygotsky

Readings: Please browse through these readings, doing a more thorough reading of the ones that really spark your interest.

Vygotsky. L. S. ” The Prehistory of Written Language” (1928). Chapter 8 in Mind in Society, pp. 108-111.

Vygotsky, L.S. “Play and its Role in Development” (1933). Chapter 7 in Mind in Society.

Zhao, Y. and Gibson,J. (2022) Solitary Symbolic Play, Object Substitutions, and Peer Role Play Skills

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9706065/ [pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

Lee, G., Feng, H., Xu, S., and Jin, S. (2019) Increasing “Object Substitution” Symbolic Play in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29090595/ [pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

Veraksa, A., Bukhalenkova, D., and Smirnova, E. (2020) The Relationship Between Different Components of Role-Play and Executive Function Development at Preschool Age.  https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1313300.pdf [files.eric.ed.gov]

Wynberg [link.springer.com], E., Boland [link.springer.com], A., Raijmakers [link.springer.com], M. & van der Veen [link.springer.com], C. (2021). Towards a Comprehensive View of Object Oriented-Play.https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10648-021-09608-7 [link.springer.com]

Fleer, M. (Oct 2024). Infants and toddlers in imaginary play situations: The genesis and conditions that support the development of imagination. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 48. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221065612400059X

Smith, L. and Jones, S. (2011). Symbolic play connects to language through visual object recognition. Developmental Science, 14(5), 1142-1149. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3482824/

Striano, T, Tomasello, M. and Rochat, P. (2001). Social and object support for early symbolic play. Developmental Science. 2001 (4), 442–456. https://www.academia.edu/8256492/Social_and_object_support_for_early_symbolic_play

Creaghe, N., Quinn, S. and Kidd, E. (2021, July). Symbolic play provides a fertile context for language development. Infancy. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/infa.12422

Creaghe, N. and Kidd, E. (2022) Symbolic play as a zone of proximal development: An analysis of informational exchange. Social Development, 31 (4), 1138-1156. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12592

Quinn, S. and Kidd, E. (2019). Symbolic play promotes non-verbal communicative exchange in infant – caregiver dyads British Journal of Developmental Psychology 37, 33–50 https://www.academia.edu/86492603/Symbolic_play_promotes_non_verbal_communicative_exchange_in_infant_caregiver_dyads