Cultural Variations in Play

Since the publication of Children’s Play in Diverse Cultures (Roopnarine, Johnson, & Hooper, 1994) more than 2 decades ago, our understanding of the ethos of childhood, childhood activities, and early childhood education in different cultural communities around the world has increased significantly. Witness, for example, the growing number of volumes dedicated to the cultural basis of human development and early education in different regions of the world. In the area of children’s play, three relatively new journals (International Journal of Play, American Journal of Play, and Journal of Playwork Practice) and the Association for the Study of Play volumes have all made concerted efforts to publish research on children’s play and play-like activities in cultural communities at different levels of economic and technological development.

These advances ...