A Profile of Children's Play in Urban India

Bibliographic Data

ID3103258
AuthorsMeera Oke (0000-0002-0491-0998, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda), Archna Khattar (Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda), Prarthana Pant (0000-0002-7685-354X, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda), T S Saraswathi (Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, corresponding author)
Year1999
Volume6
Issue2
Pages207-219
Publication date1999-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueChildhood (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0907-5682 • E-ISSN: 1461-7013
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0907568299006002004
OpenAlexW1970612334
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited1

This article attempts to present an overview of the situational analysis of play in the urban setting in a developing country (India), substantiated by the results of empirical investigations conducted in Baroda and the metropolitan city of Bombay. The observations highlight the universal features of play and also their cultural specificity conditioned by ecological factors, social class and gender. The ecological constraints of crowding, the high-rise buildings, unsafe streets, scarce open spaces, the preoccupation with the `idiot-box', all seem to conspire against the urban child's natural propensity to play with joyous spontaneity. On the flip side of the coin, of course, are the conscious endeavours by the urban community to recognize children's need for play and to create play environments in the form of parks, children's museums, play centres and the commercial `fun-worlds'. In such a context, what is most impressive and heartening is children's remarkable ability to create their own play space, be it in crowded hovels, community lanes and alleys, construction sites or even the traffic-infested streets, improvising play materials with whatever is accessible in their environments, be it sticks and stones, or tins and trash

Archaeology · Art · Crowding · Geography · Idiot · Improvisation · Metropolitan area · Situational ethics · Sociology · Visual arts · Child Development and Digital Technology · Children's Rights and Participation · Early Childhood Education and Development · Psychology · Social Psychology

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