Paper short abstract:

By presenting cases of mimicking, synchronized activity, non-verbal communication, word play, silence or ignoring and direct refusal, the presentation shows the many ways in which preschool children break the rules and playfully deal with social norms.

Paper long abstract:

An ethnographic study in two Slovenian kindergartens shows the many ways in which children break the rules and playfully deal with social norms. By presenting cases of mimicking, synchronized activity, non-verbal communication, word play, silence or ignoring and direct refusal, I observe children's play through the lens of intersubjectivity and shared intentionality and argue that through these joint activities children also initiate and maintain social interactions. Helen Schwartzman (1978) noted that in order to participate in shared play, children constantly communicate their intentions to each other and recognize the intentions of the other. I maintain that children play with order and disorder, chaos and the cosmos and explore the limits of what is allowed and actually possible (Sutton-Smith 1997; Huizinga 2003; Henricks 2009). Play as such inevitably involves subversive acts through which children explore ideas, concepts and actions beyond the norms of society, whether or not society allows such exploration. In these playful actions the rules are undermined, boundaries are explored, and yet the action remains within the rules of play. In this way, play is a key experience of human existence alongside work, ritual and communitas (Henricks 2015). Like play, the ritual reflects and preserves social reality and enhances meanings (Hamayon 2016).