Pellegrini and Smith (1998) have provided a challenging
review of the forms and possible functions of play during
childhood, and Blatchford's (1998) paper on children's
play reports a programme of research about the nature of
play at school breaktimes that seems to be the sort of
research that Pellegrini and Smith recommend in their
conclusion, calling for more descriptive studies of
children's play. When considering the nature and possible
functioning of play during childhood Pellegrini and Smith
explore general definitional issues. They suggest that play
theorists such as Piaget and Vygotsky considered that play
was the way that children learnt skills necessary for
successful functioning in adulthood. Perhaps this is a
simple way to express, for example, Vygotsky's (1978)
descriptions of play in ‘The Role of Play in Development’
in Mind in society. Vygotsky states that in play a child
creates an imaginary situation; that play is the place where
a child spontaneously makes use of his ability to separate
meaning from an object without knowing he is doing it.
The creation of an imaginary situation is the first
manifestation of the child's emancipation from situational
constraints and the primary paradox of play is that the
child operates with an alienated meaning in a real
situation. Vygotsky may be describing an important skill
for successful functioning in adulthood, but it is also an
important function in childhood.