"Give Us a Privacy": Play and Social Literacy in Young Children‪.‬

Abstract. This study argues that children require social literacy to protect and sustain their play: In play, they construct an emotional landscape of "we"-ness to be protected from outsiders. The research consisted of a 4-month-long investigation, which involved audiotaping and videotaping children engaged in self-initiated play in a kindergarten class at a college lab setting. Data analysis demonstrated that sustaining play required the co-construction and development of social literacies that allowed children to manage play props and roles, support emotional well-being among participants, facilitate collaboration among participants, and prevent or resolve conflicts, either among participants or between participants and intruders. In addition, generating rules to protect the boundaries of play, employing verbal and nonverbal forms of resistance, and avoiding contact with intruders assisted children in protecting their play. This article hopes to bring to the daily work of early childhood educators the awareness that not only is play a socially complex and dynamic context that provides children with opportunities to develop social competence, but that children's creation, expansion, and protection of their social relations--that intimate "we" inside the play--require support and respect from educators. Children attempt to protect and sustain their play, and early childhood educators offer support if they can "read" and appreciate children's social literacy in play. **********