Bringing beat, synchronization and ending into play: the ‘Salta Miralta’ lap game

This article approaches the study of beat, synchronization and type of ending in a lap game, played as an adult–child twosome or in a group. Building upon previous research, a study is made of the lap game Salta Miralta and an analysis conducted of the interaction of three children from a nursery-school group of children of 2 and 3 years old. The data-gathering technique employed was participant observation, together with field notes. Recorded on video over the period of a month, the play sessions were analysed with an instrument validated in a prior investigation. Besides confirming the results of the previous research, this study demonstrates that before children synchronize the beat, they interiorize the end of the game, performing it at precisely the right moment it in time.