Topic Two: Superhero Play

One common type of dramatic play that often makes Early Childhood Educators uncomfortable is superhero play or violent/war play. Over the years, in many ELC programs, children have been told there are no guns allowed. Educators did not want to encourage children to think that guns and violence were a solution to any problem and in an effort to have children understand these values, violent play was forbidden. To the frustration of the educators, children would create guns out of blocks, sticks, bananas or their imagination and this type of play persisted. Sometimes children would deny that they were using a gun, naming it something they thought would be acceptable to the educators (eg: a camera).

It is important to understand why this type of play persists, what concepts children are exploring and how we can support children to represent their understanding and also extend their play. In the article “Beyond banning war and superhero play”, (2003), Diane Levin provides a summary of what children receive through this type of play. 

Behaviours such as shouting and wrestling are typical of a necessary form of “rough and tumble” play.  Through this play children learn aggression control and how to move from conflict to compromise.

In topic one, we have identified the importance of dramatic play to children as they represent their experiences and understanding of the world around them. Levin reminds us that children have access to many types of media that have violent themes and images. Movies, TV shows, the News, and video games all contain graphic scenes that children may be exposed to and need to understand. Some children also experience violence in their homes or are witnesses to violence in their homes or neighborhoods. (p. 60)

The aggressive marketing of toys built upon popular movies and shows also impact children’s play. Levin says, “Such toys are appealing because they promise dramatic power and excitement. These toys channel children into replicating the violent stories they see on the screen”. (p.61)

Young children often do not have much power; they are small and vulnerable and must follow the directions of the adults and older children in their lives. They are told when to play, when to eat, when to sleep and sometimes even when to pee! Playing out dramatic scenes where they are powerful and can destroy any danger is very appealing to many children. (Levin, p. 60) 

From the perspective of the children, Superheroes have many characteristics to admire:

• They are unquestionably good.
• They possess special powers.
• They solve every problem.
• They are in control – no one tells them what to do.
• They know what is right.
• They never make mistakes.
• They are well liked by others –highly visible.
• Everyone wants to be their friend.

In relation to development, children between the ages of two and five have only recently developed a separate sense of self. During superhero play children feel omnipotent. In relation to initiative, children are testing themselves and testing you… they can test initiative through superhero play.

The development of Impulse control and the management of fears are also occurring during the preschool years and through dramatic play and superhero play, children can direct their fears outward. The fears become the monster or the enemy and superhero play gives children the feeling of control and power.

For the most part, this type of play excludes girls. This is an issue as we want children to explore all choices for themselves in their play. We understand that children are exploring their understanding of gender and what it means to be a boy or a girl.

Both genders need the time and freedom to build their understanding and to explore a variety of roles. Boys and girls should have an opportunity to feel strong and powerful and also nurturing and empathic.  

Apart from the fear that violent gun play will result in children becoming comfortable with using violence in their lives, this type of play can also result in children getting hurt or bullied by children engaging in this type of play who have difficulty defining safe boundaries within their play.

One of the issues of superhero play in particular, is that the ‘bad person’ or enemy, and the superhero, act in the same way. It is difficult to tell the difference between the two because in the popular superhero movies and TV shows that the play is built upon, the focus is on the superhero’s ability to destroy the enemy but not on their good aspects such as protecting others from harm. These are legitimate concerns and they also provide us with clues about how to support children to see a bigger picture and to feel strong and powerful in positive ways.

Levin suggests that we not ban superhero or violent play completely but that we create boundaries and rules with the children. Have a discussion with the children and let them identify the concerns and how they can prevent other children from being intimidated or getting hurt (p.62).  We can encourage children to watch for and pay attention to the reactions and feelings of others as they play. We can support children to stand up for themselves and to say, “No, don’t play like that with me!” We can also find many other ways for children to represent their ideas, including art, storytelling and music.

Using pedagogical narrations to document the concepts within the play and sharing these with the children provides an opportunity for children to reflect on their play and for you to help them to expand the play scripts and build depth and complexity. This can expand the limited, repetitive nature that can be characteristic of violent superhero play.

Levin also encourages us to talk with children about violence, their understandings and their questions, clarifying what is real from what is a story. Children are very literal in their understanding and if they have access to news stories that tell the same thing over and over with the graphic images flashing on the screen, they may believe that this is what is happening everywhere. Levin gives an example of children who were very frightened that every plane flying overhead was going to drop bombs on them after the twin towers were struck by the planes in 9/11 (p. 63).

It is important for us to watch the popular superhero shows to learn the ‘lingo’, get into the culture and share the children’s interest rather than putting it down. Children will be more willing to talk with us about their play if we have a shared understanding of their play scripts and superhero language.

We can work with families to be aware of the impact of violence on shows, video games and in toys and enlist their support in reducing children’s exposure. Purchasing more open-ended toys that can be used in many ways is a strategy that many parents would agree to if they understood how the action figures create a more limited and violent type of play. (Levin, p.63)

Another strategy to build complexity into these types of figures and the children’s play scripts is to research local heroes and help children to see what it really means to be a hero who helps others and uses their strength and skill to do good deeds.

The most important thing to do is to listen to the children, to observe their play in order to understand what they are exploring. I will leave this topic with a story about a student who had been asked by a child to join in their dramatic play. The children wanted the student to be the abductor who grabs the children and takes them away. The student was horrified and refused to be part of the play because the thought of this happening was not something she wanted to ‘play’ about.

We had a very interesting class discussion about why the children would want to play a game about this. What would they possibly like about it? It led to a much better understanding of what play is all about for children. It isn’t simply a game. These children had heard the news about a child who was taken from a playground and was gone. They needed to understand this and explore their feelings and thoughts about being a small child and what would happen if someone grabbed you? It is very important that ECEs understand the power of play and the significance of the scripts that children play out so that they can help to expand children’s understanding and so that their own understanding about what is important to children is also expanded.