EDU-33600 Play as Development

"I like to play indoors better 'cause that's where all the electrical outlets are," reports a fourth-grader. Never before in history have children been so plugged in--and so out of touch with the natural world. In this groundbreaking new work, child advocacy expert Richard Louv directly links the lack of nature in the lives of today's wired generation--he calls it nature deficit--to some of the most disturbing childhood trends, such as rises in obesity, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), and depression. Some startling facts: By the 1990s the radius around the home where children were allowed to roam on their own had shrunk to a ninth of what it had been in 1970. Today, average eight-year-olds are better able to identify cartoon characters than native species, such as beetles and oak trees, in their own community. The rate at which doctors prescribe antidepressants to children has doubled in the last five years, and recent studies show that too much computer use spells trouble for the developing mind. Nature-deficit disorder is not a medical condition; it is a description of the human costs of alienation from nature. This alienation damages children and shapes adults, families, and communities. There are solutions, though, and they're right in our own backyards. Last child in the Woods is the first book to bring together cutting-edge research showing that direct exposure to nature is essential for healthy childhood development--physical, emotional, and spiritual. What's more, nature is a potent therapy for depression, obesity, and ADD. Environment-based education dramatically improves standardized test scores and grade point averages and develops skills in problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making. Even creativity is stimulated by childhood experiences in nature. Yet sending kids outside to play is increasingly difficult. Computers, television, and video games compete for their time, of course, but it's also our fears of traffic, strangers, even virus-carrying mosquitoes--fears the media exploit--that keep children indoors. Meanwhile, schools assign more and more homework, and there is less and less access to natural areas. Parents have the power to ensure that their daughter or son will not be the "last child in the woods," and this book is the first step toward that nature-child reunion.

3rd Ed. 4th edition is on order
The book Developmentally Appropriate Practice has been an essential resource for the early childhood field since its first edition in 1987. This third edition is the most extensive yet, fully revised to align with the latest research on development, learning, and teaching effectiveness. In this book, early childhood practitioners and students will find a wealth of information: * NAEYC's official Position Statement on Developmentally Appropriate Practice * A chapter by Carol Copple and Sue Bredekamp that makes clear the connection between DAP and excellent teaching, and challenges the field to think about developmentally appropriate practice with more openness and precision * Overviews of children's development and learning in four periods of life: the infant and toddler years, the preschool years, the kindergarten year, and the primary grades * Pages of specific examples for each age period describing key practices seen in high-quality early childhood settings (centers and school classrooms as well as family child care)--and, by contrast, practices that are less likely to serve children well A CD of additional resource material will further support learning: * More than 60 readings (pdf format) taken from Young Children articles and NAEYC's books and position statements that relate to, expand on, and explain DAP concepts mentioned in the book * Two dozen video examples from real early childhood classrooms, plus commentary text, that highlight significant elements of developmentally appropriate practice in action

Why play is a productive, expressive way of being human, a form of understanding, and a fundamental part of our well-being. What do we think about when we think about play? A pastime? Games? Childish activities? The opposite of work? Think again: If we are happy and well rested, we may approach even our daily tasks in a playful way, taking the attitude of play without the activity of play. So what, then, is play? In Play Matters, Miguel Sicart argues that to play is to be in the world; playing is a form of understanding what surrounds us and a way of engaging with others. Play goes beyond games; it is a mode of being human. We play games, but we also play with toys, on playgrounds, with technologies and design. Sicart proposes a theory of play that doesn't derive from a particular object or activity but is a portable tool for being--not tied to objects but brought by people to the complex interactions that form their daily lives. It is not separated from reality; it is part of it. It is pleasurable, but not necessarily fun. Play can be dangerous, addictive, and destructive. Along the way, Sicart considers playfulness, the capacity to use play outside the context of play; toys, the materialization of play--instruments but also play pals; playgrounds, play spaces that enable all kinds of play; beauty, the aesthetics of play through action; political play--from Maradona's goal against England in the 1986 World Cup to the hactivist activities of Anonymous; the political, aesthetic, and moral activity of game design; and why play and computers get along so well.

'Beyond Ecophobia' speaks to teachers, parents and others interested in nurturing in children the ability to understand and care deeply for nature from an early age. Full of resources, ideas, and age-appropriate activities from renowned educator David Sobel, this book has helped over 20,000 teachers, parents, and others nurture the relationship between children and nature.

This Open Access book examines children's participation in dialectical reciprocity with place-based institutional practices by presenting empirical research from Australia, Brazil, China, Poland, Norway and Wales. Underpinned by cultural-historical theory, the analysis reveals how outdoors and nature form unique conditions for children's play, formal and informal learning and cultural formation. The analysis also surfaces how inequalities exist in societies and communities, which often limit and constrain families' and children's access to and participation in outdoor spaces and nature. The findings highlight how institutional practices are shaped by pedagogical content, teachers' training, institutional regulations and societal perceptions of nature, children and suitable, sustainable education for young children. Due to crises, such as climate change and the recent pandemic, specific focus on the outdoors and nature in cultural formation is timely for the cultural-historical theoretical tradition. In doing so, the book provides empirical and theoretical support for policy makers, researchers, educators and families to enhance, increase and sustain outdoor and nature education.

This open access book brings together current childhood research and contemporary ethical theory to draw attention to how children depend upon a scope of action for risky play for their mental and physical development. In many countries, the opportunities for children to play away from adults' close attention have decreased. At both school and home, protection and avoidance of harm take increasing priority. This book draws a distinction between do-good ethics and avoid-harm ethics to highlight ethical tensions and dilemmas encountered by professionals who work with children, and suggests better ways to balance these ethical dimensions in approaching risky play. 

Public discussions of global climate change and other threats to the planet are making children more aware of environmental issues. As increasing numbers of kids come to school wishing to take action, educators want to know how to teach in a way that fosters a love of nature and an understanding of the complexity and seriousness of these issues. In Childhood and Nature, noted educator David Sobel makes the case that meaningful connections with the natural world don't begin in the rainforest or arctic, but in our own backyards and communities. Based on his observations of recurrent play themes around the world, Sobel articulates seven design principles that can guide teachers in structuring learning experiences for children. Place-based education projects that make effective use of the principles are detailed throughout the book. And while engaged in these projects, students learn language arts, math, science, social studies, as well as essential problem-solving and social skills through involvement with nature and their communities. The pressures of test preparation, standards, and curriculum frameworks often reduce the study of nature and the environment to a set of facts and general concepts. However, as Childhood and Nature demonstrates, linking curriculum with an engagement in the real world not only provides students with the thinking skills needed for whatever test comes their way, but also helps them grow into responsible citizens and stewards of the earth.

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Do boys and girls like different toys? What social, cognitive, and biological factors influence the design and marketing of gender-typed toys, and children's interest in such toys?  What are the long term implications of gendered toy play, for children's development and later adult roles? In this book, scholars in developmental psychology, education, and neuroscience examine the fascinating intersection of gender and child play. Contributors consider the innumerable ways in which toys today are gender typed, alongside the expression of gender preferences in early childhood, and they review research showing that children who play with different kinds of toys reap different cognitive, emotional, and social benefits. Through playing with toys, children learn various skills, including lessons about how they should or should not behave. Gender-typed play, therefore, both reflects and solidifies gender stereotypes and constrains children's later social roles. With theoretically and empirically based play interventions, as well as descriptions of ongoing campaigns aimed at raising public awareness, this volume offers concrete steps researchers, clinicians, parents, and activists can take to help children grow up to realize their full potential, independent of preconceived gender roles and stereotypes.

Play benefits all children, and has protective and preventative functions. Yet there is not a single, universally agreed definition of child health, nor of children's play. This makes insights from around the globe, highlighting the under-recognized link between the two, highly valuable. Theorists and practitioners evidence the healing power of play and positive health outcomes through interventions ranging from hospital clowning in Palestine, health promotion in remote Australia, playrooms in Brazilian hospitals, palliative care in South Africa, therapeutic work with neglected and abused Romanian children, to restoring children's health following natural disasters in Japan, and changes in nomadic communities in Iran. Early years and teenage play are discussed, and both physical and mental health and well-being. This wonderful collection aims to inspire further discussion and sharing of good practices.

Observing and understanding schematic behaviour confidently is vital for anyone working with or looking after young children. This guide explains what schemas are, stripping back the technical language often used to describe them, and how to interpret and extend schematic behaviour to benefit the child. It looks specifically at 12 different schemas, such as connection, rotation and transportation, and includes case studies, interpretation of the observations and practical ideas for how to use this information to aid children's learning, development and play. Making schemas and schematic behaviour more understandable, this book will give early years practitioners and parents the confidence to identify schemas and plan future learning opportunities to support children based on this knowledge.

This book is the result of the first two-year work of Working Group 1 of the network "LUDI - Play for children with disabilities". LUDI is an Action (2014-2018) financed by COST; it is a multidisciplinary network of more than 30 countries and almost 100 researchers and practitioners belonging to the humanistic and technological fields to study the topic of play for children with disabilities within the framework of the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (WHO, 2001).The principal objective of this book is to bring the LUDI contribution to the important topic of play in children with disabilities, because today an international consensus on the definition of play and disabilities is still lacking. The process of ensuring equity in the exercise of the right to play for children with disabilites requests three actions: to approach this topic through a "common language", at least all over Europe; to put play at the centre of the multidisciplinary research and intervention regarding the children with disabilities; to grant this topic the status of a scientific and social theme of full visibility and recognized authority. Children with disabilities face several limitations in play, due to several reasons: impairments; playgrounds, toys and other play tools that are not accessible and usable; environments and contexts that are not accessible nor inclusive; lack of educational awareness and intentionality; lack of specific psycho-pedagogical and rehabilitative competence; lack of effective intervention methodologies. Moreover, disabled children's lives are dominated by medical and rehabilitative practices in which play is always an activity aiming to reach an objective or to provoke an improvement; play for the sake of play is considered a waste of time. The concept of play for the sake of play strongly refers to the distinction between play activities and play-like activities. Play activities are initiated and carried out by the player (alone, with peers, with adults, etc.) for the only purpose of play itself (fun and joy, interest and challenge, love of race and competition, ilinx and dizziness, etc.). They have of course consequences on growth and development, but these consequences are not intentionally pursued. Play-like activities are initiated and conducted by an adult (with one or more children), in educational, clinical, social contexts; they are playful and pleasant, but their main objective is other than play: e.g., cognitive learning, social learning, functional rehabilitation, child's observation and assessment, psychological support, psychotherapy, etc. This book, then, contributes to a clear distinction between play and play-like activities that, hopefully, will bring to new developments in play studies. ABSTRACTING & INDEXING Play development in children with disabilties is covered by the following services: Baidu Scholar Bayerische Staatsbibliothek BDS BoD Bowker Book Data CNKI Scholar (China National Knowledge Infrastructure) Dimensions DOAB (Directory of Open Access Books) EBSCO Elsevier - Scopus Books ExLibris Google Books Google Scholar Naviga ReadCube Semantic Scholar TDOne (TDNet) WorldCat (OCLC) X-MOL Additionally, the proceedings volume is registered and indexed in the Crossref database and accessible on Amazon.