‘Let’s play crocodiles’

Abstract

School playgrounds are spaces where children play with peers in organised games that have pre-existing rules and procedures for game play, and made-up games that are improvised in the moment. The ways children go about making up games have not been well documented and may be overlooked in situ due to the minimal supervision of school playgrounds. This study investigates how children mobilise and constrain their own game participation using improvised rule proposals and directives. Turn-by-turn analysis of the video recorded interactions of children (5–9 years) during lunch recess in an Australian school shows how children competently create and negotiate a game they called ‘crocodiles’. This ethnomethodological approach using conversation analysis highlights how children propose, challenge, or resist rules, to ensure or delay their ongoing involvement, or to influence the participation of others. Analyses identify how children negotiated their play and the actions of others as they recruited members and negotiated the play, mapped game play, made claims and further negotiations, and monitored the rule infringements of players. Identifying how children assemble their talk and actions as they create games informs educators of the interactional resources required for children’s participation in playground activities. Opportunities for practising these social skills within and away from adult supervision are particularly important as children interact in school playgrounds.