Role-play and technologies in early childhood

This chapter discusses the understanding of children’s role-play with technologies, objects that simulate technologies and new innovative Internet-connected Toys. Data are largely observational, gathered via both video and narrative observations, and offer a rich and dynamic discussion of children’s experiences. A multiple case-study approach was used to collect data via interviews and conversations with early childhood (EC) educators and parents. In negotiation with practitioners and parents, observations at home and in EC settings were gathered, but the nature of the observations varied across contexts. A broadly social-ecological theoretical approach was adopted to offer a broad and holistic interpretation of children’s experiences. Children’s ability to empathise with digital technologies affords opportunity to reinvent and imagine a new world.