Children's Play Territories: Hideouts and Play Domains as Protective Spaces in Childcare Play Culture

In this article, the author deploys Erving Goffman's concept of territories of the self as an analytical tool to understand the challenges and opportunities a childcare setting presents for children engaged in social fantasy play. He uses this concept to unpack the unique institutional play habitat of a childcare facility and shows how Goffman's territories form a constant concern for children in their engagements, orientations, and creative projects in social fantasy play. Through an in-depth analysis of emblematic play in an ethnographically inspired observational study, the author illustrates how the need for play domains and social alliances in childcare helps create both the demanding obstacles and inspirational possibilities of children's social fantasy play.