Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Drawing on ethnographic data, this perspective examines the symbiotic relationship between play and household chores in the everyday lives of young Indigenous Yucatec Maya children. Children in this community exercise considerable autonomy in organizing their daily routines, balancing household responsibilities with ample opportunities for unstructured play. This organization of play supports agency, inclusion, and autonomy, and promotes cognitive skills and prosocial development. We further consider how Indigenous communities across the Americas conceptualize household responsibilities and play as one of the same and not necessary as separate activities, and how these cultural frameworks shape children's learning and development. Overall, this perspective advances an understanding of play as culturally situated and challenges Eurocentric assumptions on what children's plays look like, advocating for more inclusive accounts of children's development across diverse cultural contexts.
Authors: Lucía Alcalá, Guadalupe Díaz Lara
Language: English
Subfield: Cultural Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,353
Funder: Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program
OpenAlex ID: W7214795865