Children, Play, and Development offers a comprehensive look at children's play from birth to adolescence.

'Children's Play' explores the many facets of play and how it develops from infancy through late childhood. The authors discuss major revolutions in the way the children of today engage in play, including changes in organised youth sports children's humour, and electronic play.

Why do children play and why do they stop playing? David Cohen's book answers these questions in light of recent research. Psychologists argue that children play to learn how to move, how to speak, how to think, how to cope emotionally, how to be imaginative, and how to interact with other people. David Cohen suggests that we need to look at the origins of play in the family, and excamine how children play with objects, language, and with each other and their parents. "An excellent critical appraisal of research on play. Cohen offers a refreshing open perspective, although he acknowledges that we seem to need a serious reason for play in order to justify studying it....Very readable and entertaining." —Choice

Covering the developmental range of infancy to adolescence, this book offers a comprehensive study of play--including play therapy, disabilities, anthropology of play, and play environments. It also provides current perspectives on culture and gender differences in play through a blend of research, theory, and practical applications. Focusing greater attention to contemporary issues than other books, coverage includes brain research, play deprivation, therapeutic intervention, and cutting edge information on how and why play is important for children. The book also contains practical material on enhancing play; play leadership; balancing challenge, risk, and safety in play. Other discussions emphasize the need to understand play and children with disabilities, integrate play into classroom curricula, and be aware of special places for play. For teachers and other individuals concerned with child development and early childhood education.

This book provides an analysis of children’s play across many different cultural communities around the globe. Each chapter discusses children’s play as an activity important for formal and informal education, mental health and childhood well-being, and children’s hobbies and past-times. Traditional, modern and postmodern play forms are discussed and probed for their meaning within a contemporary global community. Authors address the functions that this phenomenon serves for indigenous cultures and the problems that arise due to the globalization of educational and social resources. Issues that are covered include the importance of conceptualizing the relationship between play and culture, how play varies both within and between cultures, children’s non-play activities in relation to play activities, how play is learned and how adults, parents and teachers, as well as older peers and siblings, are all important influences on the play of children. Questions that are raised include: Is it fair to emphasize the importance of certain kinds of play, such as social pretense play? Is this ethnocentric? Is the mastery of certain forms of play (e.g. socio-dramatic play) during the early years critical in the acculturation process? How are different cultures incorporating literacy props in play, or otherwise developing early educational programmes that use play educationally to foster literacy acquisition? These and many other questions or issues are taken up in this volume. At the heart of the book is a focus on human rights, in particular the Child’s Right to Play as stated in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The book is committed to the principle of all children reaching their full potential and the enhancement of their families, communities, and cultures through play.

This book provides new theoretical insights to our understanding of play as a cultural activity. All chapters address play and playful activities from a cultural-historical theoretical approach by re-addressing central claims and concepts in the theory and providing new models and understandings of the phenomenon of play within the framework of cultural historical theory. Empirical studies cover a wide range of institutional settings: preschool, school, home, leisure time, and in various social relations (with peers, professionals and parents) in different parts of the world (Europe, Australia, South America and North America). Common to all chapters is a goal of throwing new light on the phenomenon of playing within a theoretical framework of cultural-historical theory. Play as a cultural, collective, social, personal, pedagogical and contextual activity is addressed with reference to central concepts in relation to development and learning. Concepts and phenomena related to ZPD, the imaginary situation, rules, language play, collective imagining, spheres of realities of play, virtual realities, social identity and pedagogical environments are presented and discussed in order to bring the cultural-historical theoretical approach into play with contemporary historical issues. Essential as a must read to any scholar and student engaged with understanding play in relation to human development, cultural historical theory and early childhood education.

Symbolic Play: The Development of Social Understanding describes the development of symbolic play from infancy through the preschool years. This text is divided into 12 chapters that focus on make-believe as an activity within which young children spontaneously represent and practice their understanding of the social world. The first chapter introduces the development of event schemata produced in symbolic play, about children's management of the playframe, and about the development of subjunctive, or "what if" thought. The next chapters are devoted to the development of joint pretending, specifically the use if shared scripts in the organization of make-believe play and the subtleties of metacommunication. These chapters also emphasize the supporting role of the mother in early collaborative make-believe. These topics are followed by discussions of the child's growing ability to represent the internal states of the inanimate figures whose doing can vicariously enacts. The remaining chapters focus on social interaction through symbolic play with dolls, toy animals, object props, and language. This book will prove useful to psychologists and researchers in the fields of human development, society, and family.

Pellegrini argues that play is an excellent example of the influence of biology and culture on one other, especially during childhood. The innovative possibilities associated with different forms of juvenile play behaviour can influence both individuals' skill acquisition and possibly also the development of the species.

′This Handbook offers diverse perspectives from scholars across the globe who help us see play in new ways. At the same time the basic nature of play gives a context for us to learn new theoretical frameworks and methods. A real gem!′ - Beth Graue, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Wisconsin Center for Education Research, USA Play and learning scholarship has developed considerably over the last decade, as has the recognition of its importance to children’s learning and development. Containing chapters from highly respected researchers, whose work has been critical to building knowledge and expertise in the field, this Handbook focuses on examining historical, current and future research issues in play and learning scholarship. Organized into three sections which consider: theoretical and philosophical perspectives on play and learning play in pedagogy, curriculum and assessment play contexts. The Handbook′s breadth, clarity and rigor will make it essential reading for researchers and postgraduate students, as well as professionals with interest in this dynamic and changing field. Liz Brooker is Reader in Early Childhood in the Faculty of Children and Learning at the Institute of Education, University of London. Mindy Blaise is an Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education in the Department of Early Childhood Education at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Susan Edwards is Associate Professor in Curriculum and Pedagogy at Australian Catholic University. This handbook′s International Advisory Board included: Jo Aliwood, The University of Newcastle, Australia Pat Broadhead, Leeds Metropolitan University, Australia Stig Brostrom, Aarhus University, Denmark Hasina Ebrahim, University of the Free State, South Africa Beth Graue, Wisconsin Center for Education Research, USA Amita Gupta, The City College of New York, CUNY, USA Marjatta Kalliala, University of Helsinki, Finland Rebecca Kantor, University of Colorado Denver, USA Colette Murphy, Trinity College, Dublin, Republic of Ireland Ellen Sandseter, Queen Maud University College of Early Childhood Education, Norway