Creative resources mobilized in the make-believe of children with intellectual disabilities
RIAEE – Revista Ibero-Americana de Estudos em Educação, Araraquara, v. 18, n. 00, e023160, 2023. e-ISSN: 1982-5587
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21723/riaee.v18i00.17937 14
her desires for access and action in the adult universe, which is why she “reproduces the
relationships and work activities of adults in a playful way” (MUKHINA, 1997, p. 155, our
translation). Gael wants to shoot, handle a gun, be a police officer/thief, but these actions are
impossible for him, so he plays. Play, therefore, must always be understood as an imaginary
and fantasy fulfillment of unrealizable desires (VYGOTSKI, 2022).
In play, “each child learns to behave according to the general situation of the game and
the concrete composition of the group” (MUKHINA, 1997, p. 164, our translation). This
comment by the author is consistent with Martin's entry into Gael's game. There are no prior
arrangements. Without exchanging words, Martin takes on a supporting role in the context and
interacts with Gael, who readily welcomes him into the game.
However, even though Gael's pretend play takes place in a space that provides a less
directed activity, his action when playing is governed by rules, as we need to remember that
whenever there is an imaginative situation in the context of play, it is governed by rules
(VYGOTSKI, 2022). The rules are inherent to the game and do not require prior agreement, as
they are negotiated and developed at the heart of the imaginary situation. In this way, the rules
that are experienced in play are different from those of a normative-impositive nature that come
from adults, as they are determined by the action itself, with the objective of coherence to what
is enacted. Gael, for example, is governed by the social rules that are intrinsic to the social role
he assumes; he plays at being a police/robber. Regarding this, Mukhina (1997, p. 160, our
translation) highlights that it is through play that “children get to know the social lives of adults,
they better understand the social functions and the rules by which adults govern their
relationships”.
Another point that catches our attention in the episode presented is that children behave
beyond the immediate perceptual field: they are not tied to what they see (VYGOTSKI, 2009;
VYGOTSKI, 2022). By a kind of substitution, the pillar becomes a protective device, the plastic
box and the stick become a weapon. As we discussed previously, the detachment from the real
function of the object to an action guided by its playful substitute is only possible to be observed
in children of preschool age, when the development of imagination occurs as a new formation.
At this age, “the child operates with objects as if they had a meaning, they operate with the
meaning of words, which replace objects, this occurs because in play words are emancipated
from objects” (VYGOTSKI, 2022, p. 312, our translation). The authentic creative activity of
playing only happens when the child is able to perform an action that implies another,
manipulating one object supposing another (MUKINA, 1997; LEONTIEV, 2012).