Born To Play Transcending Boredom Into Play Supporting Children To Become Captains Of Their Own Play Adventures

Children play less than ever before, yet more is expected of them at earlier and earlier ages. With a growing societal distrust of play, some caregivers have deemed play as less important than rote learning, structured activities and worksheets. What about creativity, curiosity, problem solving, flexible thinking, initiative, grit, adaptability, empathy, being able to negotiate and collaborate with others, leadership... are these skills also less important? Play is essential for development, foundational to learning and vital to a child's wellbeing. There is a need to support caregivers and children towards more playful engagement in today's ever changing fast paced world. This book is for the caregiver who seeks a deeper understanding of how to nurture play and how to create an environment that supports playful engagement. This book aims to empower you, as a caregiver, to understand the difference between play and non-play and to reflect on factors impacting your child's play. It also includes how-to strategies to set you on a more playful path.

Children like to play. They get all sorts of benefits from playing. They get the most benefit from play when they are in control of what they are doing. Yet there are lots of circumstances today that mean children are not able to control their own play and that's where playwork comes in, where the role of the playworker is to create environments that enable children to take control of their playing. This book aims to explore the similarities, differences and tensions that exist between play and playwork including appropriate definitions and the conflict around the role of the adult. Fraser Brown proposes a play to playwork continuum, where playing can be considered a 'developmental and evolutionary' activity and playwork a 'compensatory' activity. Helpfully structured around the aspects considered by the author as most important for playwork, this book uses 101 fascinating stories of children playing to illuminate a range of play and playwork theories. The rich array of powerful stories - drawn from the casebooks of eminent and experienced playworkers - speak for themselves whilst at the same time triggering theoretical explorations that are interwoven with the stories in each chapter. Mesmerizing, absorbing and original, this is essential reading for playwork students and practitioners, as well as for students and practitioners of early years, childhood, children's health and wellbeing, and children’s social care.

With research breakthroughs and case histories the authors reveal how intellectual and physical play is the ultimate engine of transforming education -- the key to giving our children the well-being, happiness, and skills they need to thrive in the 21st century.

BOOKER PRIZE WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A novel that follows a middle-aged man as he contends with a past he never much thought about—until his closest childhood friends return with a vengeance: one of them from the grave, another maddeningly present. A novel so compelling that it begs to be read in a single setting, The Sense of an Ending has the psychological and emotional depth and sophistication of Henry James at his best, and is a stunning achievement in Julian Barnes's oeuvre. Tony Webster thought he left his past behind as he built a life for himself, and his career has provided him with a secure retirement and an amicable relationship with his ex-wife and daughter, who now has a family of her own. But when he is presented with a mysterious legacy, he is forced to revise his estimation of his own nature and place in the world.

This book straightforwardly describes how adults can support children’s free play, with a holistic, inclusive &practical approach.

המשחק הוצג כצורת ההתערבות הטובה ביותר כמעט לכל בעיה שילדים חווים כגון בעיות רגשיות או הפרעות ריכוז. בספר זה מציעים החוקרים את תוצאות המחקר של השפעת המשחק ותוכניות משחק על אספקטים שונים בהתפתחות הילד. בחלק הראשון נבדק מדוע תרפיה באמצעות משחק ומהו בדיוק תפקיד המשחק בגישת תרפית משחק קלאסית. החלק השני מוקדש לתוכניות משחק ניסוייות לילדים שונים עם צרכים מיוחדים. בחלק האחרון דנים בהשפעות של גישות המשחק המודרניות בבתי ספר יסודיים ובהשפעת התערבויות משחק אלה על הכישורים הסוצילים והקוגניטיביים של הילדים.

"Role play is a rich and often undervalued area of play in which children are able to explore situations from their own or another person's perspective. This book covers every aspect of role playing, with scenarios linked to the five learning outcomes in the EYLF, to supporting play and helping children create their own props to encourage free-flow play."--Publisher.

"Find out why play is so important, and how to support it, in this convincing review of what we know about how children grow and learn. What you find will change the way you teach or parent children from birth through their primary school years." -- from back cover.