Product Description: First Published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company. (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

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Provides an incisive exploration of the concept of 'deep play'--a psychological state of mind in which we fully engage our faculties--discussing the activities that draw us into this state, the qualities that distinguish deep-play activities, and the ways in which the state can be achieved. Reprint. 17,500 first printing. (view table of contents)

Product Description: Should we take the idea of play seriously? Since the publication of Huizinga's Homo Ludens in 1938, a provocative literature has developed in philosophy and social science that does. Combs argues that we should understand play both as a generic concept with considerable power to explain human activity, and as a contemporary procept that demystifies some of the puzzling trends and innovations emerging in the quickly developing new social world of the 21st century...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: The clinically indispensable guide to using play in therapy, revised and updated. Featuring new approaches developed since the publication of the successful first edition, The Play Therapy Primer, Second Edition offers health care professionals and students a balance of fundamentals, theory, and practical techniques for using play in therapy...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

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A renowned child psychiatrist explores why play, so essential to the healthy development of children, is also very important to adults, helping them clear their minds, relax, and experience creative healing. Reprint. (view table of contents)

Play is a paradox. Why would the young of so many species--the very animals at greatest risk for injury and predation--devote so much time and energy to an activity that by definition has no immediate purpose? This question has long puzzled students of animal behavior, and has been the focus of considerable empirical investigation and debate. In this first comprehensive and state-of-the-art review of what we have learned from decades of research on exploration and play in children and animals, Power examines the paradox from all angles. Covering solitary activity as well as play with peers, siblings, and parents, he considers the nature, development, and functions of play, as well as the gender differences in early play patterns. A major purpose is to explore the relevance of the animal literature for understanding human behavior. The nature and amount of children's play varies significantly across cultures, so the author makes cross-cultural comparisons wherever possible. The scope is broad and the range multidisciplinary. He draws on studies by developmental researchers in psychology and other fields, ethologists, anthropologists, sociologists, sociolinguists, early childhood educators, and pediatricians. And he places research on play in the context of research on such related phenomena as prosocial behavior and aggression. Finally, Power points out directions for further inquiry and implications for those who work with young children and their parents. Researchers and students will find Play and Exploration in Children and Animals an invaluable summary of controversies, methods, and findings; practitioners and educators will find it an invaluable compendium of information relevant to their efforts to enrich play experiences.

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Product Description: 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...read more

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Product Description: Diversions and Divergences in Fields of Play reflects the critical efforts of its editors. They have organized recent, quality play scholarship into six thematic sections, including Theorizing Play, Traditional Play, Children's Play, Playful Primates, Resistant Play, and Intertextual Play...read more

Product Description: ed., 1997, Taylor and Francis (Brunner/Mazel). Austin, TX. Presents a systematic method for developing skills in improvisational play, and discusses the benefits and psychodynamics. For psychology professionals as well as those in education and theater arts...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: Developed as a companion volume to The Play's the Thing, this book defines and analyses the concept of master player based on videotaped observations of pre-school children at play. By interweaving sequences of play together with their dialogue about them, the authors model how teachers can work as a team to develop their understanding of a particular child and of the value of children's quality play, and how they can support it...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: Imaginative play is more vital for a child's future than many parents and educators realize. The more they are allowed to be absorbed in their play, the more fully and effectively they will later take their place in the community of adults...read more

Product Description: This is one of those rare reference books that teachers and students alike find entertaining and useful. Judy Sierra and Robert Kaminski, renowned storytellers and folklorists, describe popular games from 137 countries and cultures, including over 20 games from Native American groups...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: This fascinating collection of essays features selections from international experts in teacher education, policy, and planning on topics such as the teacher's role in enabling play, the undermining of play in the United States, the importance of play in human development, and more...read more

This book looks at the impact of play on child development.This multidimensional book looks at the current status of play theory across the disciplines, literally from anthropology to zoology. The authors examine play phenomena from four perspectives, Play as Progress; Play as Power, Play as Fantasy; and Play as Self. The volume is concluded with a challenge for future study by Brian Sutton-Smith.With the wealth of information gathered here, this book will serve as an invaluable reference tool, textbook, and source of inspiration for all those interested in the fascinating study of children’s play. (view table of contents)

Product Description: As a classic work in child drama, this book may add a considerable amount of information to the field of educational child drama.'- Newsletter of the Association for the Study of Play'No-one could read this book without being fascinated by [the author's] ability to draw a precise artistry from others...read more

Winner of the American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE) Honorary Research Award, Koste is a major voice in the field of drama/theatre and human development. In this, a new edition of her classic work, Koste looks at children's dramatic play and its role in developing life skills as well as a sensitivity to art. She examines such elements as imitation of life, mastering reality, seriousness, solitude, and much more. While theoretically sound, this book offers the warm and humorous voice of someone who knows and has worked extensively with children watching them, listening to their voices, validating their play as play and as a means of dealing with life. (view table of contents)

Product Description: The recess period represents a unique part of the school day. It is one of the few times when children can interact with their peers on their own terms with minimal adult intervention. Consequently, it represents one of the few places in primary and middle schools to observe spontaneous peer interaction...read more

Play has been presented as the ideal intervention for almost every conceivable kind of problem experienced by children: emotional problems, attention disorders, learning difficulties, and social isolation. In this ground-breaking book, leading play theorists, researchers, and practitioners present their opinions and research results about the influence of play and of special play programs on different aspects of child development. The first section explores why play therapy is used and what play s specific role is in the classical play therapy approach. The second part is devoted to experimental play programs for different types of children with special needs. In the last section, the effects of modern play approaches in primary schools are discussed as well as the influence of these play interventions on cognitive and social skills. This is a book for practitioners and theorists in the field of play, who are not just uncritical consumers or idealizers of play, but who are concerned in searching for the real value of play in various therapeutic and educational settings."

Product Description: There are pronounced differences in the play of boys and girls. Why do boys prefer war toys, and girls Barbie dolls? Are video games addictive? What, if anything, do children learn while playing? Toys, Play and Child Development explores these and other questions...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)