Children and Play (eBook)

Understanding Children's Worlds

Peter K. Smith (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2009
John Wiley & Sons (Verlag)
9781444310993 (ISBN)

Infos

The role of play in child development is a source of ongoing interest and debate. In this book, renowned expert Peter Smith offers an expansive definition of the term “play”, taking an in-depth look at its impact on children, as well as its adaptive value for birds and mammals, including primates.

Using both contemporary and classic research, Smith examines how different age groups and sexes participate in a wide variety of play, including exercise and rough-and- tumble play, fantasy play and imaginary friends, and play with objects. The book gauges the function of play in early childhood education and makes the case for and against recess breaks in school. How play occurs in different societies and among various populations – including children with special needs – is also explored.

With its comprehensive coverage of theoretical, historical, cross-cultural, and evolutionary perspectives, Children and Play holds significant insights for parents, educators, and clinicians.

Peter K. Smith is Professor of Psychology and Head of the Unit for School and Family Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is co-author of Understanding Children's Development and co-editor of The Blackwell Handbook of Childhood Social Development and of The Nature of Play: Great Apes and Humans. He has written widely on children's play, especially pretend play training, and rough-and-tumble play.

Inhalt

Children and Play 3
Contents 7
Series Editor’s Preface 10
Acknowledgments 12
Chapter 1 An Introduction to Play 13
Why Play? 13
Examples of What Is and What Is Not Play 14
Characteristics of Playful Behavior 16
Types of Play 20
Things That Are Probably Not Play: Exploration, Stereotypic Behavior, Work, Rule-Governed Games 22
Methods of Studying Play 24
Plan of the Book 32
Chapter 2 A Brief History of the Study of Play and of Play Theories 33
Early European Educators and the Role of Play 34
Evolutionary Theory and Play: Darwin, Spencer, and Groos 36
Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Play 39
The Play Ethos 39
Anthropological Perspectives on Play 42
Psychological Perspectives: Vygotsky and Piaget 43
Developmental Sequences in Play: Piaget, Smilansky, Rubin 47
More Recent Play Theorists 51
Chapter 3 Animal Play: Definitions and Descriptions 53
Possible Play in Birds, Lower Vertebrates, and Invertebrates 53
Play in Mammals 56
Some Examples of Mammalian Play 58
Do All Mammals Play? 64
Play in Monkeys and Apes 66
Chapter 4 Animal Play: Theoretical Perspectives on Function 74
Theories and Evidence Concerning the Evolution and Adaptive Value of Animal Play 74
Examining Possible Benefits of Play 82
General Views on the Benefits of Play 82
The Possible Relevance for Human Play of Studying Animal Play 89
Chapter 5 Play in Different Cultures 92
Parakanã Children 93
Factors Contributing to Cultural Similarities and Differences 97
Similarities and Differences across Cultures 107
Chapter 6 Physical Activity Play: Exercise Play and Rough-and-Tumble 111
Stages in Physical Activity Play 112
Rough-and-Tumble Play 116
Sex differences in Physical Activity Play 125
Functions of Physical Activity Play 127
Chapter 7 Object Play 136
Sensorimotor or Functional Play 136
Beyond the Sensorimotor Period 143
Functions of Object Play 146
Experiments with Object Play and Creative Problem-Solving 152
Chapter 8 Pretend Play: Description 160
Definitions of Pretend or Fantasy Play 160
The Development of Pretend Play in Children 167
Solitary and Social Pretend Play 169
Sociodramatic Play 170
Imaginary Companions 171
Distinguishing Fantasy and Reality 173
Gender Differences 175
Pretend Play and Friendship 175
Other Factors Affecting Pretend Play 177
A Universal Human Feature? 178
Children with Autism 179
Pretend Play as a Lifespan Activity? 180
Chapter 9 Pretend Play: Theories and Functions 182
Arguments for Benefits of Pretend or Fantasy Play 182
Theories Concerning the Function of Pretend Play 184
Models of the Role of Pretend Play in Development 190
Evidence for the Functions of Pretend Play 192
Experimental Studies 200
Chapter 10 Some Practical Issues Concerning Play 206
The Role of Parents in Encouraging and Structuring Children’s Play 206
The Role of Play in the Early Childhood Curriculum: Play Training 208
Attitudes to War Play 209
The Arguments For (and Against) Recess Breaks 213
The Role of Play in Helping Children under Stress, or with Illness or Disability 217
Chapter 11 Concluding Comments: Play and the Middle Way 225
Play: Ignored or Idealized? 225
References 230
Author Index 259
Subject Index 265

Rezensionen

"In his new book Understanding Children's Worlds: Children and
Play, Smith brings his considerable expertise to a wide range of
issues. . . Overall, this volume provides a readable summary of the
current research and theory on children's play, and it would be an
excellent textbook or supplementary reading for an undergraduate or
graduate class on child development, social development, or
children's play." (American Journal of Play, 2011)



"Peter Smith is to be congratulated for producing the first truly
comprehensive synthesis on the subject of juvenile play. The work's
breadth and thoroughness make it the definitive reference, while
the quality of the prose enables the book's use as a textbook.
Smith's treatment of methodology and theoretical history is
especially thorough and insightful.

Smith's unique contribution to play scholarship has been his
identification of the play ethos. This social movement has had a
distorting effect on research by inflating evidence for the value
of play for children and of the necessity for parent-child play. In
this volume, Smith almost surgically removes the play ethos
cataract that obscures play scholarship. In doing so he reminds us
that there are still many important questions regarding juvenile
play which await serious research."

-Professor David F. Lancy, Anthropology, Utah State
University, USA

"Peter Smith's book, Children and Play, is what one would
expect from one of the leading figures in the field of play.
Drawing on his extensive knowledge of evolutionary theory and the
human developmental and comparative play literatures, Smith
presents a comprehensive picture of the complexities of the place
of play in human development as well as measured analyses of its
place in schools. This book is a crowning achievement to his close
to 40 years of careful study of the field. I learned a great deal
from it."

-Professor Anthony D. Pellegrini, Educational
Psychology, University of Minnesota, USA

"This book is an excellent synthesis of what is currently known
about the play of children. Peter Smith, one of the leading
play researchers of our time, sheds new light on some long-debated
issues such as the definition of play, play's role in
development and evolution, and the relationship between play and
culture. In addition, individual chapters provide rich detail about
particular types of play, including the much neglected category of
physical play. The volume concludes with a very interesting
discussion of practical issues, including parental involvement in
play, play's role in education, the importance of school recess,
and war play. I was very impressed with Professor
Smith's balanced, objective discussion of play
research. He effectively argues for a "middle
way" of viewing play, a view that neither idealizes nor
denigrates its importance in the lives of children."

-Professor James Christie, Curriculum and Instruction,
Arizona State University, USA

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 30.3.2009
• Reihe/Serie: Understanding Children's Worlds
• Reihe/Serie: Understanding Children's Worlds
• Reihe/Serie: Understanding Children's Worlds
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Psychologie ► Entwicklungspsychologie
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Psychologie ► Pädagogische Psychologie
• Schlagworte: Childhood • children • Developmental • Education • Entwicklungspsychologie / Kindheit • Entwicklungspsychologie / Kleinkindalter • Infancy • Play • Psychologie • Psychology • Social
• ISBN-13: 9781444310993 / 9781444310993