Journal article
Unlocking Imaginative Play: A Scoping Review Investigating Early Childhood Educators' Contributions Towards Imaginative Play
Early Childhood Education Journal, Vol.Advanced access
03-Jul-2026
Appears in UniSC Supported Open Access Outputs
Abstract
Play is a core occupation in childhood, essential for promoting cognitive, social, and emotional development. Imaginative play is essential for enriching a child's communication, problem-solving, and emotional regulation. Despite the benefits imaginative play has for children, there remains a need to explore the facilitators and barriers that exist for early childhood educators to support imaginative play activities. This scoping review synthesized existing literature on the enabling and inhibiting factors related to educators and their involvement in imaginative play with young children. Scopus, PubMed, ERIC, and APA PsycNET databases were selected and searched. A total of 14 articles published between 2008 and 2021 were retrieved for data extraction. Meta-ethnography analysis was used to establish the facilitators and barriers that contribute towards imaginative play. Facilitators included fostering environments, adult participation, and scaffolding imaginative play experiences. Barriers included adult-imposed roles in play scenarios, restrictive play, and a lack of supportive educator involvement. Early childhood educators' attitudes, knowledge and self-efficacy influenced how they contributed to imaginative play activities. Findings indicate occupational therapists' key role in supporting professional development and training for educators in early childhood education (ECE) settings. Future research is recommended to gain a deeper insight into educators' barriers and facilitators towards imaginative play in lower-socioeconomic ECE settings, culturally and neurodiverse children.
Details
- Title
- Unlocking Imaginative Play: A Scoping Review Investigating Early Childhood Educators' Contributions Towards Imaginative Play
- Authors
- Natalie Ann Sutherland-Stevens - University of the Sunshine CoastLaine B. Chilman - University of the Sunshine CoastKara Lilly - University of the Sunshine CoastSimon P. Ledger - University of the Sunshine CoastLaura Burritt (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
- Publication details
- Early Childhood Education Journal, Vol.Advanced access
- Publisher
- Springer Dordrecht
- DOI
- 10.1007/s10643-026-02297-3
- ISSN
- 1573-1707
- Copyright note
- This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Grant note
- This research received funds from the University of the Sunshine Coast - School of Health - SC440 Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (Honours), enabling an online self-paced scoping review training course to be completed.
- Organisation Unit
- Healthy Ageing Research Cluster; School of Health; School of Health - Occupational Therapy; School of Health - Public Health
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991246281802621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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