Play, Development and Early Education

Respected play scholars James Johnson and James Christie join esteemed author Francis Wardle in this exciting new text on the theorising and research of childhood play. Play is the universal language of childhood. In order to converse with new generations of children, today’s teachers must prepare themselves and learn how this form of communication can be adapted to the classroom. Play, Development, and Early Education, challenges the reader to discover what play is and how to incorporate it into a curriculum for children from toddlerhood through the primary grades. Utilising three major ideas–the quality of play in early childhood, play as a means of self-expression, and play as a channel of communication to achieving social sense–the authors examine the beliefs, perspectives, and theories relating to play and what effects culture, media and technology have on play. In addition, the text addresses the role of parents in supporting and elaborating play, the direct connections between research and play practice, and the value of play in relation to the total development (cognitive, affective, emotional, social, and physical) of all children.

Features

• The most easy-to-follow, conversational play text on the market!
• Special features in each chapter allow students (and professors) to explore different types of play ideas and key topics.
• An in-depth discussion addresses the classical, modern, and postmodern play theories, such as Practice Theory, Social Learning Theory, and Chaos Theory (Ch. 2).
• Focus Questions corresponding with major outcomes listed at the beginning of each chapter assist the instructor in developing lesson plans.
• Chapter Projects give students the opportunity to think about chapter content and explore different situations and solutions.