According to Vygotsky’s cultural-historical activity theory, pretend play can be an important context for the development of children’s social competence. The aim of this meta-analysis was to synthesize the current evidence about the relation between pretend play and social competence in early childhood (age 3–8 years). A systematic literature search of PsycINFO, ERIC, and Web of Science identified a total of 34 relevant empirical studies. The included studies were systematically coded and categorized for pretend play and social competence. Overall, the findings of this meta-analysis reveal a positive relation between pretend play and social competence, irrespective of how the latter was measured. The relation between pretend play and social competence was slightly negatively impacted by children’s age, suggesting that the relation weakens as children get older. Studies measuring the amount of pretend play found lower correlations between pretend play and social competence than studies measuring the quality of pretend play. Most included studies adopted a cross-sectional design, so claims about causal effects could not be supported. Future research is required to determine the direction of causality and potential mechanisms that may explain the relation between pretend play and social competence.

This study investigated the effect of traditional interactive reading and interactive reading using mindmaps on children’s language competence and their story comprehension and causal reasoning. Furthermore, we explored teachers’ dialogic scaffolding in the two approaches and investigated the relation between teachers’ dialogic scaffolding and children’s causal reasoning. In total, 7 early childhood teachers and their 176 pupils participated. Classrooms were randomly assigned to the traditional interactive reading group or the interactive reading using mindmaps group. Before and after a six-week intervention, children’s language competence was measured using tests for thematic vocabulary, narrative competence, and critical listening. In addition, story comprehension was measured with a short questionnaire and children’s causal reasoning and teachers’ dialogic scaffolding were assessed by coding videos of shared book reading activities. Outcomes indicated that children significantly improved their language competence over the course of the study, independent of the group to which they were assigned. In addition, findings showed that children’s causal reasoning was partly related to teachers’ dialogic scaffolding.

Summary In Chapter 2, a meta-analysis was presented in which the value of pretend play for social competence was examined in early childhood (children aged 3-8 years). A systematic search resulted in 34 empirical studies and 188 associations between pretend play and social competence. The findings revealed a positive but small overall relation between pretend play and social competence. This relation was negatively affected by children’s age, indicating that the relation slightly weakens as children grow older. In addition, it was found that studies measuring the quality of pretend play (such as the complexity of children’s pretend play scenario) showed a stronger relation between pretend play and social competence in comparison to studies measuring the amount of pretend play (time spent in pretend play). Given that most studies included in this meta-analysis were cross-sectional, no claims could be made about causality and the direction of the relation between pretend play and social competence. Still, the findings indicate a positive relation between pretend play and social competence regardless of how the latter was measured. In Chapter 3, the relation between pretend play complexity and social competence was investigated in early childhood education (N = 248 children aged 3-6 years). The study specifically examined whether social-emotional behavior during pretend play (i.e., emotionally positive/productive and emotionally regulated/prosocial behavior) mediated the relation between pretend play complexity and social cognitive skills. The findings revealed no direct relation between pretend play complexity and social cognitive skills, nor did social-emotional behavior mediate this relation. However, pretend play complexity was positively related to children’s social-emotional behaviors during pretend play, potentially highlighting the social nature of pretend play. In Chapter 4, a study was described in which the effect of a pretend play intervention on social competence was investigated in early childhood education. An eight-week intervention study was conducted with 333 preschoolers (aged 3-7 years). Social competence was assessed at two levels: social-cognitive skills (skills level) and social-emotional behavior during pretend play (indexical level) before and after the eight-week period. The findings revealed no significant effect of the pretend play intervention on either social cognitive skills or social-emotional behaviors. These results raise important questions about how pretend play interventions are designed and their effectiveness in supporting the development of social competence in early childhood education.

Within cultural‐historical activity theory, pretend play is considered crucial for the development of young children's social competence. However, the existing empirical evidence does not support such strong causal claims. Given the importance of social competence for children's development, the current study aimed to contribute to a better understanding of the potential effect of pretend play on social competence. It examined the effect of pretend play on social competence through a controlled intervention study with an 8‐week social pretend play intervention in early childhood education. The sample consisted of N = 333 preschoolers aged 3–7 years from 15 schools. Schools were randomly assigned to either the intervention ( n =  165 children) or the control condition ( n  = 168 children). Both before and after the 8‐week period, children were individually tested on social cognitive skills and observed to administer their social‐emotional behavior during pretend play (i.e., positive/productive and regulated/prosocial behavior). Findings revealed no significant effect of pretend play on either children's social cognitive skills or social‐emotional behavior during pretend play. Future research is needed to clarify the potential role of pretend play for social competence development.