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17th out of 33 books
—
5 voters
Power of Play: How Spontaneous, Imaginative Activities Lead to Happier, Healthier Children
by
David Elkind
In modern childhood, free, unstructured play time is being replaced more and more by academics, lessons, competitive sports, and passive, electronic entertainment. While parents may worry that their children will be at a disadvantage if they are not engaged in constant, explicit learning or using the latest "educational" games, David Elkind's The Power of Play reassures us...more
Hardcover, 256 pages
Published
December 25th 2006
by Da Capo Press
(first published December 5th 2006)
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This guy is a complete F*&^ing tool and this is the stupidest book I have read in a really long time. And I have read some crap in my day. This guy seems to think that no one should expose kids to structured activities or challenge them intellectually, but instead give them battery-free wooden toys and put them in a room with nothing but imagination-and he thinks this is therapeutic for them! Sounds more like punishment to me. I am a big fan of imagination and love to think about kids preten...more
Nov 05, 2011
Christina
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2011-christina,
davidson-co
I liked this book, although parts of it read a bit like a research paper, alternating with personal examples of the author's kids and grandkids. I thought the author made some good points about what needs to happen and not happen in a child's life before age 6. I also liked he was not against all media time but for balance and moderation.
Some of the research details on types of toys and games were more of "skim reading". Elkind also had an interesting approach to making discipline more humorous...more
Some of the research details on types of toys and games were more of "skim reading". Elkind also had an interesting approach to making discipline more humorous...more
The author advocates the integration of play, love and work. As a former teacher, manager and still a parent I understand what he meant. Many examples are given of child development and abilities and how to cope with them. Humor is emphasized as a positive way to discipline. He tells of a time when his son had so angered him he didn't know what to so he said he was so upset he was going to send him to the moon. The child got the message, realizing that his father was angry, but it was ridiculous...more
Concept: 5 stars, Presentation: 2 stars.
Elkind talks about the importance of spontaneous imaginative activity: different types of play and how they help children learn and develop.
I love that an expert is telling me to spend less money on my kids (less toys and less organized activities). Now I can feel sophistacted when I don't sign my 3-year-old up for soccer, and limit Christmas gifts, rather than negligent and selfish. It has been good for me to reflect on my children's activities and the im...more
Elkind talks about the importance of spontaneous imaginative activity: different types of play and how they help children learn and develop.
I love that an expert is telling me to spend less money on my kids (less toys and less organized activities). Now I can feel sophistacted when I don't sign my 3-year-old up for soccer, and limit Christmas gifts, rather than negligent and selfish. It has been good for me to reflect on my children's activities and the im...more
The heart of this book is that play, love, and work are the essential trio, whether for children or any happy, healthy human being. Take away one leg of the trio and you'll truly have an unbalanced life. American society today is either totally repackaging play as licensed toys with no room for imagination or turning it into something "developmentally appropriate" for an educational benefit, thereby turning play into work.
Parenting today no longer seems to include sending kids outside to play at...more
Parenting today no longer seems to include sending kids outside to play at...more
Jan 04, 2012
Lisa M. Guerrero
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
parents, educators, policy makers
Elkind (2007) brings to light the important role that passion plays in parenting and teaching. It is beneficial for children to see the adults in their lives engaged in something purely for the enjoyment of it (Elkind, 2007, p.182). By keeping our passions alive and by sharing them with the children in our lives, either directly or indirectly, we role-model playfulness. We also bring play (engaging in an activity just for fun), love (sharing the joy of the activity with children), and work (exhi...more
Oct 09, 2007
Lisalou
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people interested in child development
It's difficult to read a book where you agree with the basic premise and find a chunk of it a good read but at the same time you'd like to go in and completely restructure the book and make the author rewrite some parts.
What's good -
Elkind goes through play in terms of child development through different age groups. Very helpful in understanding why dd plays certain ways.
Interesting chapter on over involved parents. He summed up some of my own insecurities well and gave me tools to overcome them...more
What's good -
Elkind goes through play in terms of child development through different age groups. Very helpful in understanding why dd plays certain ways.
Interesting chapter on over involved parents. He summed up some of my own insecurities well and gave me tools to overcome them...more
This book is a hash of ideas that have been around for some time. There is no new material. A rant about current parenting methods and no real point to the narrative. I find it amazing how we forget that "the olden days" were no rosier than today but everyone thinks they must have been and we should return to them.
If you've done a lot of research then this is not the book to start with. If you are starting you can start here and use it as a starting point.
If you've done a lot of research then this is not the book to start with. If you are starting you can start here and use it as a starting point.
In praise of unscheduled, self-directed imaginative play. The book lays out in an easy to read manner the many benefits of play and why parents should in a sense let kids be kids. The author provides good examples of how a child's primary method of learning is through active exploration and sensory interaction. Its not all about lessons, structure and prescribed practice, particularly at a young age. I'd recommend this book to other parents or teachers.
Much stronger when it came to discussing various established theories of child development and learning than when discussing the so-called ills of modern childhood (ie: television, computers, overscheduling, etc.). Here it dissolves into a noncritical expounding of the author's opinions, with anecdotes to support them (so many anecdotes - far too many of them rather self-congratulatingly drawn from the author's own experience as a parent) but little in terms of real evidence or counterexamples....more
Overall I liked this one. It does seemed geared towards people with younger kids but it's a good reminder to stop and relax not just for kids but everyone. I like that unlike similar books the author doesn't want to ban all tv and computer use. He specifies examples of what is appropriate at different ages. I found it was written for parents and not a classroom. I appreciate that. There were some parts that annoyed me but overall it was a good book and I would recommend it to friends.
Apr 17, 2010
Crystal
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people interested in child development
It was a very boring beginning and a bit too dry / academic at times. I found the overview of the history of toys interesting (as well as how we became such a consumer culture) Several great reminders of why play is so important. Skipped over most of the video game / software reviews. Interesting bits of history on education in general. I’d check it out from the library but I would not buy it. You’ll only need to read it once.
Jul 03, 2008
Marie
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
lovers of Montessori, Steiner, Piaget
Shelves:
parenting
Elkind combines academic research with anecdotes. He includes reviews of some popular educational software, an overview of the history of toys and how we got to be such a consumer culture, the negativity of screen time for kids, the downside of "helicopter" or "hyper"-parenting, and some glimpses into how to judge when a child reaches "the age of reason." He's a huge advocate of self-directed play/learning, of NOT pushing kids into academics before they are developmentally ready to be successful...more
I was expecting more of a scholarly approach to the subject, and while there was some reference to studies and some explanation of how children play and what their purpose their play serves, there was also a lot of parenting advice inhere. That said, I still enjoyed it. I just liked the informative parts much better than the opinions of the author.
Excellent book that explains how important play is, and how often we try to teach children in ways they aren't ready to learn. I thought I was already on the right track with this approach, but I found myself doing some of the things he warns against. I know I used to redirect my son when I got bored watching him complete the same task over and over. Elkind explains how important it is to let him continue that repetition until he solves whatever problem his baby mind is trying to figure out. Elk...more
Great book for anyone interested in early childhood and the concerns about what children are losing with their lack of play time. Very easy to read, great examples, good thoughts and suggestions for what families and teachers can do to combat this problem. Not too research-y, but good references in the back.
This book helped me feel validated as a parent, that I am not failing by letting my children play all day without sitting them down to "teach" them their abc's and 123's. They are doing important learning through their play. The author made a good strong argument for play and the importance of it.
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A good reminder to not overschedule your kids (an easy thing to do). Very helpful in also providing an age breakdown for appropriate types of play and also a suggestion of how many and what type of organized activities kids should participate in. At times though it was a bit repetitive.
David Elkind points out the importance of play for a child's health, well-being, and education. Today children are marketed as consumers and are given less and less time to play. As a advocate of Play to Learn and author of books about playful writing, I recommend this book!
I loved this book. Elkind definitely has an agenda, and you see it here and in his Hurried Childhood book. I've used content from this book to teach in a few different classes. My favorite concept is lighthearted and playful parenting. Such a great idea.
This was a great book that emphasized the importance of free time for all kids. He makes a special note that organized sports/activities do not count as "play" in this instance because the time is structured. A good companion to Last Child in the Woods.
An argument in favor of ye olden times when kids had a chance to just hang out and play; when they were not ridiculously overscheduled, when they went to regular camp rather than fashion design/inline skating/aeronautic engineering specialty camps, and were not subjected to No Child Left Behind mandates.
The basis of the book is that children, especially young children, need the opportunity to learn through play. He emphasizes the necessity of bringing work, play, and love in to all things and the importance of family involvement.
The book briefly touches on various formal education methods including Montessori, Waldorf, and "traditional" schooling (rote learning and memorizations).
I would recommend this book anyone who is interested in education/child development, and to any parent who wants mor...more
The book briefly touches on various formal education methods including Montessori, Waldorf, and "traditional" schooling (rote learning and memorizations).
I would recommend this book anyone who is interested in education/child development, and to any parent who wants mor...more
Any mother or teacher that gives children plenty of time to explore and play will find the research in this book very validating. I've purchased multiple copies to hand out - I love this book!
For fun, I am mentally putting together a "curriculum" for an imaginary class on my philosophy of parenting. This book is valuable in it's explanation of children's play, and how to play with children.
I LOVE, love, LOVE this book. Great perspective on parenthood and childhood. This book has brought increased play to our family!
Imagine your grandpa wrote down one of his rants that starts "Back in my day..." and this is the book that would result. Basically, new methods are crap. Old ways are best, and he proves it by footnoting randomly to other ranters.
Some good content but not as well organized as it could be. Also the very dry, academic writing often made this tough to get through.
I loved a must read for all parents... I need to play more myself!
This book explain the important role of simple old-fashioned play in children's lives. When a child is playing, they are also hard at work learning.
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David Elkind is an American child psychologist and author. His groundbreaking books The Hurried Child and Miseducation informed early childhood education professionals of the possible dangers of "pushing down" the elementary curriculum into the very early years of a child's life. By doing so, he argued, teachers and parents alike could lapse into developmentally inappropriate instructional and lea...more
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