Developing resilience, a capacity to adapt positively despite adversity, to navigate resources and negotiate a developing understanding of self is viewed an active process of engagement rather than an assumed persistent capacity. This presentation describes how pretend play and self -regulation development supported the maintenance of resilience for children, across rural, regional and metropolitan Victoria during their transition from pre-school to formal schooling.

Educational transition can represent significant developmental challenges requiring children to adapt to new expectations, environments, and social dynamics. These transitions can either strengthen or undermine developing resilience capacities. Unique stressors during these periods include shifts in instructional approaches, increased performance expectations, and evolving peer relationships.

Within a framework of Doing, Being, Belonging and Becoming play creates a developmental bridge that allows children to process and integrate new experiences through familiar symbolic representation and peer connection. Children use play to make sense of the world around them and support their connection with people and place. The continuity of play is critical for maintaining the self-regulatory foundations established in early childhood, such as emotional regulation, attentional control, and behavioural inhibition, which can otherwise deteriorate during transitional stress.

Central to the discussion is the process through which resilience is actively maintained. This presentation identifies specific mechanisms within pretend play that preserve resilience during transitions: increased use of symbolism in play while constructing a logical sequence, increased use of object substitution with reduced imitation of others’ actions, and the development of seven key self-regulatory skills supporting play relationships. A multiple case study design demonstrates how developing play and self-regulatory capacities successfully maintained children's resilience trajectories supporting their sense of self and wellbeing. The findings of this study support the notion that early pretend play experiences remain accessible to children as they navigate the increasingly complex demands of formal education.