Multiple perspectives on play in early childhood education / Olivia N. Saracho and Bernard Spodek, editors.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

A historical overview of theories of play / Olivia N. Saracho and Bernard Spodek -- Playing with a theory of mind / Angeline S. Lillard -- The social origins of mind: post-Piagetian perspectives on pretend play / Larry Smolucha and Francine Smolucha -- Seeing through symbols: the development of children's understanding of symbolic relations / David H. Uttal [and others] -- The development of pretense and narrative in early childhood / Robert D. Kavanaugh and Susan Engel -- Play as an opportunity for literacy / Kathleen Roskos and Susan B. Neuman -- Play and social competence / Gary L. Creasey, Patricia A. Jarvis, and Laura E. Berk -- Social and nonsocial play in childhood: an individual differences perspective / Kenneth H. Rubin and Robert J. Coplan -- Play in special populations / Fergus P. Hughes -- The cultural contexts of children's play / Jaipaul L. Roopnarine [and others] -- Play and the assessment of young children / A.D. Pellegrini -- What is stylish about play? / Olivia N. Saracho -- Physical environments and children's play / Joe L. Frost, Dongju Shin, and Paul J. Jacobs -- Real and not real: a vital developmental dichotomy / Brian Vandenberg.

Print version record.

Play has been part of early childhood programs since the initial kindergarten developed by Friedreich Froebel more than one hundred and fifty years ago. While research shows that most teachers value children's play, they often do not know how to guide that play to make it more educational. Too often, in reflecting the value of child-initiated activities, teachers set the stage for children's play, observe it, but hesitate to intervene in that play. They may fear that to intervene is to create a developmentally inappropriate set of educational practices. However, the lack of intervention may limit the educational outcomes of play. Meanwhile, a large body of research exists on different forms of children's play in educational settings that could inform teachers of young children and help them to improve their practice and support more educational play. Saracho and Spodek bring together much of that research in an accessible volume for early childhood teachers and teacher educators.

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