Veraksa, N.E.
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Federal Scientific Center of Psychological and Multidisciplinary Research
Abstract
Background. Contemporary authors emphasise the importance of play for the development of preschool-aged children. According to L.S. Vygotsky and D.B. Elkonin, the influence of play on the development of preschoolers is comparable to the role of educational activity in the development of schoolchildren; in both cases, the zone of proximal development is created. In this context, studying the structure of play as well as considering the concepts of an imaginary situation, play role, rules and opportunities in the play are relevant for understanding child development and improving pedagogical approaches in preschool institutions.
Objective. The aim of the study was to examine a specific developmental line of role-playing games associated with the construction of a possibility space.
Methods. Theoretical analysis of the problem of play as a situation of interaction between a child and society, in the works of L.S. Vygotsky, D.B. Elkonin and other authors, thematic synthesis of ideas about play in the context of the concept of possibility.
Results. It was shown that preschoolers distinguish between normative and imaginary situations. One of the findings of the analysis was that a rule is viewed not only as a prescription for action but also as an opportunity to act in a certain way, i.e., as a sanctioned opportunity. In this case, culture appears as a space of objectified possibilities. In play, the role adopted by the child, through the corresponding role-rules, determines the paths to their realisation, which form the basis of the play culture of the kindergarten as a space of possibilities. In play, two types of possibilities are defined: those set by adults and those discovered by the child. According to A.N. Leontiev, the process of activity can occur at three levels - the operational level, the level of action, and the level of activity, which presupposes the presence of corresponding possibilities. Accordingly, the possibilities of play activity also differ by level. Objective or objectified play possibilities are distinguished. They are set by adults in relation to play objects (toys) and are of a levelled nature. In addition, subjective possibilities, established by children, are also distinguished.
Conclusions. The concept of opportunity allows us to systematically describe play in the logic of interaction between the child
and society. Subjective possibilities can be objectified in play activities depending on the development of children’s abilities,
allowing children to go beyond the established objective play possibilities and develop the play space.
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To cite this article:
Veraksa, N.E. .
Play and the Space of Possibilities. // National Psychological Journal
2026. 3. Pages34-42. doi: 10.11621/npj.2026.0303
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