Play = Learning: How Play Motivates and Enhances Children's Cognitive and Social-Emotional Growth

by Dorothy G. Singer (Editor), Roberta Michnick Golinkoff (Editor), Kathy Hirsh-Pasek (Editor)

Why is it that the best and brightest of our children are arriving at college too burned out to profit from the smorgasbord of intellectual delights that they are offered? Why is it that some preschools and kindergartens have a majority of children struggling to master cognitive tasks that are inappropriate for their age? Why is playtime often considered to be time unproductively spent?

In Play=Learning , top experts in child development and learning contend that the answers to these questions stem from a single in the rush to create a generation of Einsteins, our culture has forgotten about the importance of play for children's development. Presenting a powerful argument about the pervasive and long-term effects of play, Singer, Golinkoff, and Hirsh-Pasek urge researchers and practitioners to reconsider the ways play facilitates development across domains. Over forty years of developmental research indicates that play has enormous benefits to offer children, not the least of which is physical activity in this era of obesity and hypertension. Play provides children with the opportunity to maximize their attention spans, learn to get along with peers, cultivate their creativity, work through their emotions, and gain the academic skills that are the foundation for later learning. Using a variety of methods and studying a wide range of populations, the
contributors to this volume demonstrate the powerful effects of play in the intellectual, social, and emotional spheres.

Play=Learning will be an important resource for students and researchers in developmental psychology. Its research-based policy recommendations will be valuable to teachers, counselors, and school psychologists in their quest to reintroduce play and joyful learning into our school rooms and living rooms.

Genres: Parenting, Education, Professional Development

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Khloe Gill · Rating 2 out of 5]

read this for class. it was not my style but i’m sure it’s helpful for developmental psychologists

[emma burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

for class too. i liked this one better bc it seemed more based in studies & had more interesting perspectives on play

[Lime Street Labrador · Rating 2 out of 5]

nah

[Sue Lyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very useful collection of empirical research articles on the thesis that play=learning. Informed by developmental psychology and social-constructivist approaches to learning it is both scholarly and accessible. A must read for new and practising teachers faced with the pressure to ditch play in the name of standards and accountability. As government in the US and UK go further down the formal teaching route this book reminds us that humans are naturally and spontaneously playful and that failure to provide opportunity for play in formal education is detrimental for individuals and society. A clarion call that must he heeded. The book is also of interest to all parents and those working with parents in a range of circumstances including poor socio-economic contexts and those who are learning disabled to show how play can support their needs. Parents interested in the role of play in their children's lives and how they can support them will also find this book accessible.