INDONESIAN CHILDRENS PLAY WITH THEIR MOTHERS AND OLDER SIBLINGS

30 Indonesian children were observed and videotaped on 2 separate occa sions while playing with toys to promote imaginative play with their m others and older siblings. Play episodes were examined for level of pl ay with objects, mutual involvement in social and cooperative social p retend play, maternal and sibling play behaviors, and thematic content . Mothers were interviewed about children's play. Results showed that level of object play and mutual involvement in cooperative social pret end play increased with age. Pretend play with objects and cooperative social pretend play were more frequent with older siblings than with mothers. Older siblings were more actively involved in play activities than were mothers. Siblings joined their younger partners' play activ ities and made comments and suggestions for pretend play. The findings suggest that older siblings can be effective facilitators of pretend play with young children. The results also show how the sociocultural context shapes children's early play behavior with different partners.