Play and Child Development

NEW TO THIS EDITION This book is about children's play and development. Changes to this new edition include new information and research on the following: History, theories, and culture of play Montessori and child development views of play Examples of play in Chapters 1 and 2 Nature and consequences of play deprivation Benefits of playground play, more on safety in both indoor and outdoor play, and additional emphasis on nature, gardens, and wild places in children's play Effects of electronic play (video games, computers, immersive reality) on children's development Roles of play leaders Strategies for adults for facilitating play with children with disabilities Bullying and aggressive behavior in school-age children and characteristics of these children CONTENTS AND ORGANIZATION OF THIS TEXT To understand any human activity, such as play, it is necessary to explore that activity as it has evolved over time. We begin in Chapter 1 with a look at "Play's History: Ideas, Beliefs, and Activities." Indeed, play does have an epic history, dating back thousands of years. As we state in Chapter 1, play activities existed long before recorded history. As a result, we have both prerational knowledge of play, which has remained with us since before the onset of recorded history, and rational knowledge of play, those aspects of play that we have come to be aware of by means of scholarship. Our earliest rational knowledge of Western play can be described in terms of three themes:agon, mimesis,andchaos.These themes continue to describe play across the centuries, although the relative weight of each is seen to vary over time.Agon,or conflict, appears in competitive games and-has its present manifestation in sport.Mimesis,or imitative action, is associated with theater, role play, and creative forms of play.Chaos,or leaving things to the Fates, is reflected in games of chance. During the Enlightenment and Romance periods of history, versions ofmimesiswere exalted, to call attention to humankind's creative spirit. It was during these times that particular attention from scholars began to focus on children's play. Freedom and the human spirit were associated with play by educators such as Johan Pestalozzi and Friedrich Froebel. This belief has remained with us and forms a cornerstone for understanding children's play. The history of children's play developed a life of its own during the 19th century, with the scholarly research efforts of individuals such as G. Stanley Hall, John Dewey, and child development researchers who soon followed them. Although these scholars reflected differing assumptions about play, their combined efforts, building on the work of earlier philosophers, kept play at the center of children's development. Our history of prerational and rational experience with children's play serves as a basis for our current efforts to study play. Through the past century, research on children's play contributed to theories about play and its role in development. As we look at our efforts to make sense of play, we see a variety of rhetorics for play and a wider variety of theories to make sense of it. Chapter 2 introduces a number of theories that dominated play scholarship throughout the 20th century, as well as a number of emerging theories that are leading us into the 21st century. These theories are illustrated with an example of children at play, showing how play must be understood from multiple perspectives. Being able to put on different theoretical lenses allows the observer of play to understand its many meanings. Chapter 2 also provides a model for deciding which theory may be most useful for professionals who are supporting play. Theory is placed in the model as a tool for assisting teachers to plan, observe, and assess children as they play. Values and bFrost, Joe L. is the author of 'Play and Child Development', published 2004 under ISBN 9780131131231 and ISBN 0131131230.