Home ◼︎ Children ◼︎ Study Guides ◼︎ Book Reflections ◼︎ Learning Stories ◼︎ Topics ◼︎ Essays
Symbolic Representation
The ability to use one thing to stand for another—symbolic representation is how children express ideas, feelings, and experiences through images, words, actions, and materials.
In early childhood, symbolic thinking emerges when a stick becomes a sword, a scribble stands for a tree, or a block structure represents a home. It’s visible in pretend play, storytelling, drawing, building, and dance. Far from being trivial, this kind of play is foundational to cognitive and emotional development. It supports language, memory, imagination, and abstract thinking.
In Reggio Emilia–inspired education, symbolic representation is central. Children are offered a wide range of materials as languages—clay, charcoal, wire, paint, paper, light, sound—not to reproduce an adult idea, but to give form to their own thinking. When children revisit a concept through different expressive modes, they refine, deepen, and extend their understanding.
Symbolic representation also helps children communicate what may be difficult to say in words—emotions, questions, theories, or inner images. It offers a bridge between the internal and external worlds.
Why It Matters
Symbolic representation is how children make meaning. It supports literacy, empathy, and the development of flexible, creative thinking. For educators and families, honoring symbolic play and expression means trusting the ways children communicate—and creating environments where their ideas can unfold in many forms. It is also a way of listening: what is this drawing, structure, or movement trying to say?
References & Further Reading
- Edwards, C., Gandini, L., & Forman, G. The Hundred Languages of Children
- Vecchi, V. Art and Creativity in Reggio Emilia
- Golomb, C. The Child's Creation of a Pictorial World
- Vygotsky, L. S. Mind in Society – On symbolic thought and imaginative play
- North American Reggio Emilia Alliance: www.reggioalliance.org
Glossary
Symbolic Representation – The use of images, objects, or actions to stand for something else—essential to play, communication, and learning.
Pretend Play – A form of symbolic play where children use imagination to create roles, scenarios, and objects that may not be physically present.
Expressive Languages – The many ways children express themselves—such as drawing, sculpture, storytelling, and movement—central to Reggio-inspired learning.
Materials as Languages – The idea that materials are not just tools, but expressive media through which children communicate ideas and explore meaning.
Abstract Thinking – The ability to think beyond the concrete, using symbols, metaphors, and imaginative reasoning to understand the world.
Articles and Resources on This Site
Children worked with clay as a bird gathered pine needles outside. Nests, worms, houses, and burrows emerged—gestures of shelter, repetition, and persistence carried in material.
Fiona meets clay for the first time. Through gesture and touch, she enters a sensory dialogue, revealing the depth of nonverbal learning and relational presence.
External Links
Related Topics
Would Love to Hear From You!
Education Pages
