For Your Binder

Published in Pediatrics in June 2022 this link will bring you to the abstract which, although not the full paper,  provides enough data to remind us that young children are still not moving around enough. # play # movement # outside # recess # DAP # environment

What are we waiting for?  Sometimes I think we lost our faith in play. # DAP # learning # teaching

If you have not heard of him I encourage you to spend some time investigating his website for more resources, courses you can take, interviews, articles... # DAP # play # learning # teaching # relationships # care

We know the many benefits of risky play for young children - but are all children being afforded opportunities to engage in this kind of play? Disabled children tend to be over-protected and have their abilities underestimated. Additionally, "accessibility" is not in itself sufficient to ensure the quality of the play experience.  # inclusion # equity # outside # movement # recess

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) believes that recess is a crucial component of a child's development and should not be withheld for punitive or academic reasons.  Of note: this position statement was reaffirmed by the AAP in 2016. # recess # DAP # play # teaching # learning # outside # movement

A short article with 10 different ways to build a child's fine and small motor skills! # DAP # play # movement # writing # teaching # learning 

Loose parts were provided on playgrounds located in two housing structures in Paris. The researchers had questions:  How will children play with objects that are not toys? How do the objects affect children's play? # play # toys # playwork # adventureplaygrounds # recess # outside

This pilot study of the Play Cycle Observation Method (PCOM) provides a method to record the process of play as outlined by Sturrock and Else (1998) in the aforementioned Colorado Paper.  # play # playwork

This is Part II in a series by Peter Gray.  In Part I Gray defined teaching  - here in Part II he examines teaching as it occurs, or occurred, in hunter-gatherer bands. # play # teaching # learning # DAP

Might some of the chaos found in the study of play theory be due to the lack of clarity about the popular cultural rhetorics that underlie the various play theories and play terms?    This link will take you to a stand alone chapter (written by Sutton-Smith) of The Game Design Reader:  A Rules of Play Anthology by Katie Salen & Eric Zimmerman, 2006.  If Sutton-Smith is new to you, this will be a good warm-up before you dive into his 1997 classic, The Ambiguity of Play.   # play # theorists

FUN FACT! Mother Nature installed the “play drive” for the same reason she installed that other drive – the drive to reproduce: BOTH are critical for the species to continue. (In fact, play makes you into the kind of person someone would want to reproduce WITH.)  # play # teaching # learning

Is your child getting enough bacteria?  # play # outside # nature