Making Sense of Play straightforwardly describes how self-chosen, engaging and satisfying play is best for children. It explores how adults can best support children's free play with an approach that is holistic, inclusive and practical and offers clear tools to highlight better ways of relating to and providing for playing children. The book extends two key concepts developed by the author, the Integral Play Framework and the Play Cycle, showing how practitioners can implement these ideas on a day-to-day basis. The author makes clear how the Integral Play Framework works, how it helps makes sense of other models and how it can be used to help plan provision for playing children physically, socially, cognitively and culturally. Everyday practice with playing children is explored in line with introductory and extended understandings of the Play Cycle or 'play process'. Accessibly written with a rich range of examples showing the concepts in practice, these models are further used to explore creativity, the ways in which children play, how provision might be improved and how the approaches can be used to research practice. With its distinctive blend of theory and practice together with reflective questions, this book is essential reading for all playwork students and practitioners and helps put these innovative ideas into practice with playing children. "Perry Else's book, Making Sense of Play, is just what we might expect from one of the UK's leading playwork authors. Drawing extensively on Else's work with a number of theorists, it is thought-provoking in its content and challenging in the breadth of its scope. Those of us who value diagrams and tables as a mechanism for clarifying complex concepts will be rewarded by the format of the chapters. I recommend this book to anyone with an analytical preference, and an interest in the way societies cater for the needs of children at play." Fraser Brown, Professor of Playwork, Leeds Beckett University, UK "Perry has the special ability to write a rigorous academic book applying helpful theoretical perspectives to play without ever damaging the precious importance of uninterrupted, spontaneous child-led PLAY." Sara Knight, Forest School Association and Anglia Ruskin University, UK "Making Sense of Play is an accessible and thought-provoking book for all those who are involved or interested in children's play, whether they are practitioners, academics, students or tutors. Written in an engaging and informative manner, it offers opportunities to deepen understanding about different perspectives on play and how this knowledge can aid adults in supporting play. Notably the inclusion of activities and questions for each chapter are invaluable for consolidating understanding and applying the theory to practice." Julia Sexton, Senior Lecturer in Childhood Studies, Sheffield Hallam University, UK

Using the relational development approach of Gordon Neufeld, the author offers a road map to making sense of the behavior of young children and understanding their developmental growth.

This much-needed book examines the implications of the 'Every Child Matters' (ECM) national and local framework for working with children. It analyses the key issues from the perspective of the different professions that make up the 'new children's workforce' and explores interprofessional considerations. The book includes practice issues and case examples from health, education, social work, playwork, children's centres and early years, and considers the opportunities and challenges presented by the current agenda. It will be widely welcomed by tutors and practitioners alike, enabling readers to make sense of the legislation and national guidance, and to understand better the new agendas for children's services. For more information visit: http://www.everychildmattersbook.co.uk/

"If you know and love young children, find a way to read this book. Here you will discover the hidden talents of young children for complexity, design, and tenacity for learning... a wonderful addition to the too-small library of quality books on young children's learning through art." Shirley Brice Heath, Professor Emerita, Stanford University and Professor at Large, Brown University, USA "This book is unique in giving an in-depth account of the way young children approach drawing at home and at school. It shows the cognitive value of drawing in children’s intellectual and emotional development and sets out the truly extraordinary range of drawing types that are used and understood by three to six year olds…. It is an invaluable experience." Professor Ken Baynes, Department of Design and Technology, Loughborough University, UK This book explores how young children learn to draw and draw to learn, at home and school. It provides support for practitioners in developing a pedagogy of drawing in Art and Design and across the curriculum and provide advice for parents about how to make sense of their children’s drawings. Making Sense of Children’s Drawings is enlivened with the real drawings of seven young children, collected over three years. These drawings stimulated dialogues with the children, parents and practitioners whose voices are reported in the book. The book makes a powerful argument for us to radically re-think the role of drawing in young children’s construction of meaning, communication and sense of identity. It provides insights into the influence of media and consumerism, as reflected in popular visual imagery, and on gender identity formation in young children. It also offers strong messages about the overemphasis on the three Rs in early childhood education. Key reading for students, practitioners and parents who want to encourage young children’s drawing development without ‘interfering’ with their creativity, and who need a novel approach to tuning into young children’s passions and pre-occupations.

Making a play-based curriculum work in early years settings. Early Years practitioners have been advocating for play to be at the heart of early years for many years. Now is the time to make this a reality. Using in the moment planning, child initiated play and other strategies, this book supports early years practitioners to enable the children in their setting to choose what they do and how they want to learn. Dawn Rigby shares her passion for a play-based curriculum, her own setting′s journey, what worked and the challenges faced along the way. This practical book: shares examples of good practice; gives advice on how to make play the central focus of early years practice; explores why a play-based curriculum matters; includes practical support on developmentally appropriate practice.

Why is it that, when children play, some behave like butterflies, flitting around among the flowers of the activities on offer, landing for a moment before moving on to the next attractive flower (activity) while others behave with the single minded concentration of bees? As children grow and learn, they acquire skills through play and practical activities. This recently acquired learning is tenuous and is secured through practice, repeating the skills in different contexts, with different people. Only then will learning be 'hard wired' for life. It is now evident that where children are able to select resources, play companions and activities for themselves, they can practise emerging skills and concepts by selecting the resources they need and using them in ways which are unique to them. This book, written by a group of experts in early years practice, explores the place and purpose of child-intitiated learning in high quality early years practice. Child-initiated learning is a key feature of the Early Years Foundation Stage.