Playfulness through the lens of toy design: a study with Indian preschool children with intellectual disability*

The present study focuses on how playfulness is manifested for preschool children having mild to moderate Intellectual Disability (ID) in the mental age group of 3-6 years through interactions with toys, in the context of facilitated free play at an Indian special school. Looking beyond accessibility, the main aim of this study is to identify patterns of emergent playful behaviour and reflect upon the role of micro-level factors like design characteristics of toys and activities in eliciting the playful experience. Direct observation and video recording of children's play interactions led to rich data, analysed through a qualitative framework derived from Classical Grounded Theory. Emergent themes represent the variety of playful behaviour seen in preschool ID children, focusing on the affective qualities of interaction between the human player and the designed play artefacts. Several non-intuitive operational properties of toys and activity are identified, useful for eliciting playful interactions.