For Your Binder

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

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

This is a valuable collaborative resource created by The National Playing Fields Association, PLAYLINK, The Children's Play Council, Play Wales, Play Scotland, Sutcliffe Play & Playboard Northern Ireland.  At it's core is a shared belief that children need to play and as such, need environments that are suitable for them to do so.  # play # playwork # learning # teaching # outside

Many screen based programing for infants and toddlers is advertised as "educational," yet evidence doesn't support this.  # DAP # screens # technology # parenting # teaching # learning

Words can make a big difference in how we think and what we do. # play # learning # teaching

Children aren't born in litters, but we insist they be cared for in them!  # DAP # mixedages # play # teaching # learning

After I read this one I wrote on the top of the page, first do no harm. We KNOW that # play is what needs to be happening.  Why do we (not present company "we" but I think you know what I mean!) insist on trying to get different results????  We (the same "we") must stop dismissing data because we don't like the results!  # DAP # teaching # learning # Vanderbilt # Tennessee

This is one of the many articles that came out in 2022 in response to what has simply become known as "The # Vanderbilt study.  A quote from the article, "We might actually get better results, she says, from simply letting little children play." # play # DAP # teaching # learning # Tennessee

I think it's fair to say that singing and hand clapping games play a relevant role in a child's life both culturally and developmentally.  In this paper, the authors defend the idea that clapping games play a big part of girlhood in Catalonia (Spain).  # recess # play # songs # DAP # playground

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

Metaphors allow the child to protect the self and project the experience onto another object which is much less threatening. # play # playtherapy # fairytales

A call for recess to serve as a restorative space when schools (re)open. # play # DAP # recess # equity # teaching # learning # outside