Play is theorized as a crucial way children express and develop their creativity. Grounded in the bioecological model of human development and Vygotsky’s theories on play and creativity, Fung and Chung (2025) aim to address a gap in research by examining how family factors within a child’s microsystem influence creative potential. While previous research often defined creative potential solely as personality traits, Fung and Chung (2025) operationalize it through cognitive processes: divergent thinking (generating multiple solutions) and convergent thinking (deducing the single best solution). They hypothesized that parental beliefs about play would indirectly foster these creative thinking skills by nurturing children’s playfulness.
The participants were 181 children (aged 4 to 5 years; 54.1% girls) recruited from nine kindergartens in Hong Kong, along with their parents. Data collection involved both parent-reported questionnaires and direct behavioral assessments of the children. Parents completed the Parent Play Beliefs Scale (PPBS) to measure their support for play and the Children’s Playfulness Scale (CPS) to assess their child’s playfulness across five dimensions: physical, social, and cognitive spontaneity, manifest joy, and sense of humor. Children’s creative thinking was assessed directly: convergent thinking was measured using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R), while divergent thinking was evaluated using the figural circle task from the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT), where children drew pictures based on circles.
Preliminary analyses showed that all five aspects of playfulness were positively correlated with parental play support, but only social spontaneity and cognitive spontaneity significantly correlated with the children’s creative thinking processes. A path analytic model was used to test the relationships, revealing that the direct link between parental play support and children’s creative thinking was non-significant. Instead, the relationship was fully mediated: parental play support positively predicted social spontaneity, which in turn predicted convergent thinking, and it positively predicted cognitive spontaneity, which predicted divergent thinking. The model demonstrated adequate fit, confirming that the influence of parental support on creativity operates through specific aspects of the child’s playful behavior.
Fung and Chung (2025) conclude that parental play support is a crucial environmental factor that fosters creative potential, but it does so indirectly by nurturing a child’s playfulness rather than directly teaching creative skills. Specifically, parents who value play create an environment that encourages social and cognitive spontaneity, which are the specific drivers of convergent and divergent thinking respectively. This finding supports the bioecological model, highlighting how the home microsystem shapes child development. Practically, Fung and Chung (2025) suggest that to enhance creativity in early childhood—a critical period for development—educators and policymakers should focus on interventions that help parents understand the value of play and promote playful behaviors in the household.
Source (Open Access): Fung, W. K., & Chung, K. K. H. (2025). Interrelationships Among Parental Play Support and Kindergarten Children’s Playfulness and Creative Thinking Processes. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 101907.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101907