New Zealand children from 1840 to 1890 were subjected to an unusual combination of agrarian existence and an industrial social philosophy in the newly formed schools. When schools became more universal in the expanding industrial society, a new emphasis on the control of children developed, and from 1920 onward, adult supervision in the form of heavily organized sports and playgrounds encroached more and more on the untrammeled freedom of the rural environment. Returning to his home country of New Zealand, Brian Sutton-Smith documents the relationship between children's play and the actual process of history. Drawing on interviews with hundreds of informants from every province and school district of New Zealand, the author illuminates for the first time the various social, cultural, historical, and psychological context in which children's play occurs. He treats both formal and informal play, as well as the play of both boys and girls.

This book explores the history of children’s play and play environments, informing where we are today and why we need to re-establish play as a priority. Ultimately, the author proposes active solutions to the current state of play deprivation.

Children’s play throughout history has been free, spontaneous, and intertwined with work, set in the playgrounds of the fields, streams, and barnyards. Children in cities enjoyed similar forms of play but their playgrounds were the vacant lands and parks. Today, children have become increasingly inactive, abandoning traditional outdoor play for sedentary, indoor cyber play and poor diets. The consequences of play deprivation, the elimination and diminution of recess, and the abandonment of outdoor play are fundamental issues in a growing crisis that threatens the health, development, and welfare of children. This valuable book traces the history of children’s play and play environments from their roots in ancient Greece and Rome to the present time in the high stakes testing environment. Through this exploration, scholar Dr. Joe Frost shows how this history informs where we are today and why we need to re-establish play as a priority. Ultimately, the author proposes active solutions to play deprivation. This book is a must-read for scholars, researchers, and students in the fields of early childhood education and child development.

Introduction: Play -- Childhood and play in colonial America -- Domesticating children, 1800-1850 -- The arrival of toys, 1850-1900 -- The invasion of children's play culture, 1900-1950 -- The golden age, 1900-1950 -- The commercialization of children's play, 1950 to the present -- Children's play goes underground, 1950 to the present -- Conclusion

An Integrated Play-Based Curriculum for Young Children, Second Edition explores how to integrate play across the curriculum, helping teachers develop their early childhood curriculum using developmentally and culturally appropriate practice. Distinguished author Olivia N. Saracho offers a theoretical framework for understanding the origins of an early childhood play-based curriculum and illuminates how young children learn and understand concepts in a social and physical environment. This second edition has been fully updated throughout and its comprehensive coverage has been expanded with entirely new sections on technology and social media, cultural differences in play, and teaching English language learners and students with disabilities. Packed with vignettes, activities, and practical examples, this text is essential reading for pre-service teachers seeking appropriate theoretical practices for designing and implementing a play-based curriculum.

Children, Play, and Development offers a comprehensive look at children′s play from birth to adolescence.

As they play, children do more than imagine--they also invent life-long approaches to thinking, feeling, and relating to other people. For nearly a century, clinical psychologists have been concerned with the content and interpersonal meaning of play. More recently, developmental psychologists have concentrated on the links between the emergence of symbolic play and evolving thought and language. At last, this volume bridges the gap between the two disciplines by defining their common interests and by developing areas of interface and interrelatedness. The editors have brought together original chapters by distinguished psychoanalysts, clinical psychologists, social workers, and developmental psychologists who shed light on topics outside the traditional confines of their respective domains. Thus the book features clinicians exploring subjects such as play representation, narrative, metaphor, and symbolization, and developmentalists examining questions regarding affect, social development, conflict, and psychopathology. Taken together, the contributors offer a rich, integrative view of the many dimensions of early play as it occurs among peers, between parent and child, and in the context of therapy.