In Celebration of Play An Integrated Approach to Play and Child Development

Play is the child’s way of learning about, adapting to and integrating with his or her environment. In addition to adequate sports and recreation facilities children need a wide variety of opportunities, choices and raw materials that they can use as they see fit for free constructive creative play. Originally published in 1980, these essays, drawn from papers given at the International Playgrounds Association’s Seventh World Congress, focus on the social significance of play. However, both the Association and the book itself are not solely concerned with ‘playgrounds’ in the formal sense; rather, they are concerned with the wide range of play environments that are – or should be – available to children. It is recognised that play opportunities can exist for the child in and around the home (playrooms, backyards), the school and public park (traditional, adventure and creative playgrounds), the institution (day-care centres, hospitals), and the city qua city (the streets and shopping centres). This work is concerned with all these environments, considering the developmental aspects of play in a social context. The varied contributions from researchers and play leaders from several countries, consider such topics as the importance of play, development through play, leadership training and special groups.

Acknowledgements. Preface. Introduction. 1. Play in Human Settlements: An Integrated Approach Ethel Bauzer Medeiros Part 1: The Importance of Play 2. Play and Early Childhood Otto Weininger 3. Education for Leisure: Is it Our Responsibility? Catherine Cherry and Robert Woodburn Part 2: Development Through Play 4. Roadblocks to Creativity through Play Claudine Jeanrenaud and Doyle Bishop 5. An Investigation of Imaginative Play and Aural Language Development in Young Children, Five, Six and Seven Thomas Daniels Yawkey 6. Free-play Behaviours of Nursery School Children in an Indoor and Outdoor Environment Michael L. Henninger 7. The Privacy Behaviour of Preschool Children: Mechanisms and Functions in the Day-care Environment Ellen Jacobs 8. Elementary School Children’s Play Behaviour During School Recess Periods Shani Beth-Halachmy Part 3: Leadership Training 9. A Programme for Training Play Leaders Nancy L.G. Ovens 10. Leadership Training for Work with the Severely Handicapped Joyce Knowles 11. Games for Growth – a Leading Question Lanie Melamed 12. Put More Music into Play: A Plea to Play Leaders Shelley Gordon Garshowitz 13. Dramatic Play in Early Childhood Dorothy Jane Needles Part 4: Special Groups 14. Play for Children in Hospital and the Play Specialist’s Role Jan Kubli 15. Play Needs of Immigrant Children Mavis Burke 16. Play Interaction Differences between Normal Child/Mother and Retarded Child/Mother Dyads Colin Pryor, Walter Filipowich and Mayah Sevink 17. Design Guidelines for Handicapped Children’s Play Environments Leland G. Shaw 18. Play and the Exceptional Child: Adventure Place – a Case Study Clara Will and Michael Hough Part 5: Beyond the Playground 19. Criteria for Children’s Playthings and Play Environments Yrjö Sotomaa 20. Toy Libraries Colin Pryor 21. Fitness and Play Peggy Brown 22. Beyond Competition: Organizing Play Environments for Co-operative and Individualistic Outcomes Peter K. Jensen and Harvey A. Scott 23. Developing the Full Capacities of Children through the Expansion of Non-formal Education Programmes Bernard Zubrowski. Contributors. Index.