Dramatic Play in an Early Childhood Supplemented Montessori Classroom: Point of Contact

In an effort to address the persistent belief that pretend play does not belong in an early childhood Montessori classroom, this study was conducted to explore the impact of introducing a dramatic play area and investigate how participation affects children's use of traditional Montessori materials. A case study was undertaken in a single classroom of a small private Montessori school to place, in succession, a total of three dramatic play scenarios. Data was collected on three five-year-old boys from observations, anecdotal records, and interviews over a 10-week period. Providing a dedicated play area impacted the environment and participants primarily in relation to self-regulatory development. There was an observed increase in attention during the work cycle and improved engagement with traditional Montessori academic materials. Growth in peer sociability was a surprising result-demonstrating that dramatic play can be a point of contact for children new to the Montessori environment and those with a highly developed narrative imagination. Continued research in this area is needed to illuminate the intersecting points of agreement between the Montessori educational model and contemporary early childhood developmentally appropriate practices to build more robust teaching methods and policies.