This thought-provoking read invites you to reconsider your automatic "no" when it comes to young children’s weapon play. It offers new perspectives on how weapon play and other risky or controversial play can provide opportunities for healing discussions—including around boundaries, kindness, and consent—and create positive learning experiences for children and teachers alike. Centered in an antiracist framework with applications across diverse communities, the book is written by two educators with unique lived experiences of community violence and safety who each share their perspectives on risky play, questions to consider, and strategies to try in the classroom. Aiming to inspire new ways of thinking, instead of trying to change your mind outright, this book asks deep questions to support you in carefully thinking about the kind of play allowed in your classroom. This book is an essential resource for early years teachers, practitioners, and anyone with a key interest in creating supportive spaces for young children.

Rethinking Superhero and Weapon Play offers a fresh and knowledgeable insight into children’s fascination with superheroes and weapon play. It explores what lies at the heart of superhero and weapon play and why so many children are drawn to this contentious area of children’s play. This innovative book offers: A detailed look at why many early years professionals and teachers are cautious about superhero and weapon play. Does weapon play make children more violent? Do ‘goodies versus baddies’ stories make children more confrontational? Do superheroes offer positive gender role-models? The book tackles these questions and suggests some alternative perspectives, as well as offering practical advice about keeping children’s superhero and weapon play positive and productive. An exploration of how superhero and weapon play relates to the development of children’s moral values, moral principles and moral reasoning; the building of children’s co-operation, empathy and sense of community; and the development of children’s sense of self and self-esteem. Discussion of the deep moral themes that lie within superhero narratives, and how superhero characters and narratives can be used to enhance and deepen children’s understanding of good character, moral responsibility, attachment, prejudice and ill-treatment, and why it is important to be good in the first place. A wealth of learning opportunities and suggestions of ways to use superheroes to advance children’s moral, philosophical and emotional thinking This book is an excellent resource for those studying or working in early years or primary education who wish to understand the phenomenon of children’s superhero and weapon play and make the most of children’s enthusiasm for it. “Warm, funny, smart, and honest, the argument made in Steven Popper’s book astutely, and with a sharp eye for detail, teases out many subtle reflections on morality, childhood development and the paradoxes of human nature, through the lens of our much-loved Superhero narratives. He is able, through nuanced and well-supported argument, drawn from both theory and practice, and from pedagogy and real life, to present a compelling and detailed account of the ways in which these stories might interface with the moral development of children. The book offers a rich, and articulate narrative of its own, which ‘aims at the good’ in its desire to propose that immersion in such superhero ‘narrative play’ can teach children about ethics, social responsibility, and what it is to be ‘human’. This is also a wonderful contribution to debates around the role of mass media in promoting critical thinking and enquiry among children.” Dr. Sheena Calvert, Senior Lecturer, University of Westminster, UK “This book authoritatively assesses the virtues of engaging in superhero play with young children. It argues that far from damaging children and encouraging them to adopt unthinking, aggressive behaviours superhero play is an implicitly moral activity. It encourages children to explore profound moral and ethical thinking. This book is both a well-researched account of the appeal that superhero play has for children of both sexes and a practical guide to how such play can be used imaginatively in early years settings.” Rob Abbott, Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood and Education, University of Chichester, UK

"This thought-provoking read invites you to reconsider your automatic 'no' when it comes to young children's weapon play. It offers new perspectives on how weapon play and other risky or controversial play can provide opportunities for healing discussions-including around boundaries, kindness, and consent-and create positive learning experiences for children and teachers alike. Centered in an antiracist framework with applications across diverse communities, the book is written by two educators with unique lived experiences of community violence and safety who each share their perspectives on risky play, questions to consider, and strategies to try in the classroom. Aiming to inspire new ways of thinking, instead of trying to change your mind outright, this book asks deep questions to support you in carefully thinking about the kind of play allowed in your classroom. This book is an essential resource for early years teachers, practitioners, and anyone with a key interest in creating supportive spaces for young children"--

This book aims to encourage early childhood practitioners to provide for young children’s all round well-being.

Calling All Superheroes highlights the enormous potential of superhero play in supporting learning and development in early childhood. Using examples from practice, it provides guidance on how to effectively manage and implement superhero play and set appropriate boundaries in early years settings and schools. Illustrated with engaging photographs and case studies, the book gives ideas about how superhero play can be used to promote positive values and teach children essential life skills. Offering practical strategies and questions for reflection designed to facilitate further development, chapters address important topics and challenges such as: Child development, the characteristics of effective learning and the benefits of superhero play, including making sense of right and wrong and increasing moral awareness How to broach difficult themes like death, killing, weapons, aggressive play and gender-related issues Supporting children to recognise everyday heroes and how to find heroic abilities within themselves The role of the adults in managing superhero play, engaging parents and creating effective learning environments Written by a leading expert with 20 years’ experience in the early years sector, this book is an essential resource for early years teachers, practitioners and anyone with a key interest in young children’s education and learning.

Helps early years students and practitioners to get to grips with the key issues, through a critical and thematic approach which focuses on reflective practice. Theories and research into the nature of reflection are examined, how they can be used, and how they can improve practice, producing a more responsive and thoughtful, research-based workforce for young children and their families. In this third edition there is greater emphasis on issues related to inclusion and diversity, mental health and communication with parents. New pedagogic features include Team Talk designed to get all members of a work-based team to pool their expertise and knowledge, and to think critically and reflectively upon aspects that may directly affect their settings. There is also a new Evidence Informed Research Practice and Reflection feature which offers questions that emphasise the importance of up-to-date research material informing practice within a setting.

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