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Play = Learning: How Play Motivates and Enhances Children's Cognitive and Social-Emotional Growth

Online ISBN:
9780199894321
Print ISBN:
9780195304381
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Book

Play = Learning: How Play Motivates and Enhances Children's Cognitive and Social-Emotional Growth

Dorothy G. Singer (ed.),
Dorothy G. Singer
(ed.)

Senior Research Scientist, Department of Psychology and Child Study Center

Yale University
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Roberta Michnick Golinkoff (ed.),
Roberta Michnick Golinkoff
(ed.)

Professor, Departments of Educational Studies, Psychology, and Linguistics

University of Delaware
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Kathy Hirsh-Pasek (ed.)
Kathy Hirsh-Pasek
(ed.)

Professor of Psychology

Temple University
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Published online:
1 April 2010
Published in print:
7 September 2006
Online ISBN:
9780199894321
Print ISBN:
9780195304381
Publisher:
Oxford University Press

Abstract

Why is it that the best and brightest of our children are arriving at college too burned out to profit from the smorgasbord of intellectual delights that they are offered? Why is it that some preschools and kindergartens have a majority of children struggling to master cognitive tasks that are inappropriate for their age? Why is playtime often considered to be time unproductively spent? This book contends that the answers to these questions stem from a single source: in the rush to create a generation of Einsteins, our culture has forgotten about the importance of play for children's development. Presenting a powerful argument about the pervasive and long-term effects of play, this book urges us to reconsider the ways play facilitates development across domains. Over forty years of developmental research indicates that play has enormous benefits to offer children, not the least of which is physical activity in this era of obesity and hypertension. Play provides children with the opportunity to maximize their attention spans, learn to get along with peers, cultivate their creativity, improve their emotional health, and gain the academic skills that are the foundation for later learning. Using a variety of methods and studying a wide range of populations, this book demonstrates the powerful effects of play in the intellectual, social, and emotional spheres.

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