Beschreibung:
First published in 1998. Play is pervasive, infusing human activity throughout the life span. In particular, it serves to characterize childhood, the period from birth to age twelve. Within the past twenty years, many additions to the knowledge base on childhood play have been published in popular and scholarly literature. This book assembles and integrates this information, discusses disparate and diverse components, highlights the underlying dynamic processes of play, and provides a forum from which new questions may emerge and new methods of inquiry may develop. The place of new technologies and the future of play in the context of contemporary society also are discussed.
Section I. Contexts, Perspectives, and Meanings of Play, Perspectives on Play, Meanings of Play, Section II. Perspectives on Play Development, General Play Development, Language Development and Play, Social and Emotional Development and Play, Play as a Developmental Tool, Section III. Physical and Social Contexts of Play, Physical Settings for Play, Play and Social Interactions, Section IV. Particular Meanings Embedded in Playful Experiences, Section V. Structuring the Study of Play, Section VI. Play in the Disciplines and Professions, The Arts and Humanities, The Natural and Social Sciences, Business, Education, Journalism, the Law, and Medicine, Section VII. The Present and Future of Play