Triggering in play: Opening up dimensions of imagination in adult-child play

In his pioneering research on play (in animals), Gregory Bateson theorized play in terms of (meta) communication. Bateson's line of thinking later became fundamental to play research among children. In the present study, we extend this line of investigation. Building on methodological and theoretical advancements, we empirically study play in-depth as communication and metacommunication through an exemplar of child-adult play. The aim with this investigation is to further the empirically grounded theorization of play as (meta)communication and discuss what the implications are for early childhood education and care (ECEC). More specifically, we address questions concerning play as communication and metacommunication as well as adult participation in and contributions to play, which are matters of foremost importance to ECEC. The theoretical concept of triggering, argued to be more functional than scaffolding for conceptualizing the participation and contributions of more experienced participants in play, is presented and differentiated with the help of empirical observations.