I have to admit that I was not a great fan of superheroes and I have needed to be convinced of their importance to children and the value in their play. An early years practitioner once described me as 'old school' when I emphasised the importance of promoting fairy stories and traditional tales, and not taking too much notice of Superman, Batman and the like.
My lack of interest stemmed from regarding superheroes as TV cartoon characters that encourage a lot of 'crash bang wallop' among children, especially boys. However, I was intrigued to find out the extent to which superhero play could be a 'way in' for some children to talk together more freely and explore more complex imaginary worlds.
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