Here is a brief and humorous overview of the psychology of play!

 

Here are some more resources on play, sel and how young children learn:

Alliance for Childhood. Accessed July 24, 2019. http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/. 

 

Brown, Stuart. Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul. New York: Avery, 2009. 

 

Hamilton, Jon. “Scientists Say Child’s Play Helps Build A Better Brain.” NPR. August 6, 2014. https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2014/08/06/336361277/scientists-say-childs-play-helps-build-a-better-brain.

 

Hamilton, Jon. “How Play Wires Kids’ Brains For Social and Academic Success.” KQED. August 7, 2014. https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/37248/how-play-wires-kids-brains-for-social-and-academic-suc

cess.

 

“CASEL is transforming American education through social and emotional learning.” CASEL. Last modified 2019. https://casel.org/. 

 

Milteer, Regina M., Kenneth R. Ginsburg, and Deborah Ann Mulligan. “The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bond: Focus on Children in Poverty”. Pediatrics 129, no. 1 (2012). Accessed July 24, 2019. https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/129/1/e204..info. 

 

Panksepp, Jaak. The Importance of Play: An Interview with Dr. Jaak Panksepp. BrainWorld, May 22, 2019. https://brainworldmagazine.com/the-importance-of-play-an-interview-with-dr-jaak-panksepp/. 

 

“Pretend Play and Brain Growth: The Link to Learning and Academic Success”. Gesell Institute of Child Development. Accessed July 24, 2019. https://gesellinstitute.org/products/pretend-play-and-brain-growth-the-link-to-learning-and-academic-success.

 

“A Conversation About Play”. NAEYC. Accessed July 24, 2019. https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/books/spotlight-young-children-exploring-play-a-conversation-about-play. 

• Mukesh Devi, M.S Chahar. Study of Academic Achievement among Social Skill Deficient and Non Deficient School Students. American Journal of Educational Research. Vol. 3, No. 12, 2015, pp 1565-1569. http://pubs.sciepub.com/education/3/12/13/. 

DePaoli, Jennifer L., Matthew N. Atwell, and John Bridgeland. “Ready to Lead: A National Principal Survey on How Social and Emotional Learning Can Prepare Children and Transform Schools”. CASEL. Accessed July 24, 2019. http://www.casel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/ReadyToLead_FINAL.pdf. 

 

Almon, Joan. “Play Therapy”. GoodTherapy. Last modified July 17th, 2015. https://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/types/play-therapy. 

 

 Yogman M, Garner A, Hutchinson J, et al; AAP COMMITTEE ON PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS OF CHILD AND FAMILY HEALTH, AAP COUNCIL ON COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA. The Power of Play: A Pediatric Role in Enhancing Development in Young Children. Pediatrics. 2018;142(3):e20182058

 

Silverman, Sarah K. 2019. “Taking Back Kindergarten: Rethinking Rigor for Young Learners”. Whiteboard Advisors, Teaching Strategies, https://schoolleadersnow.weareteachers.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/04/Taking-Back-Kindergarten.pdf.

 

Hassinger-Das, Brenna, Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff. “The Case of Brain Science and Guided Play: A Developing Story”. Young Children 72, no. 2 (2017). Accessed July 11th, 2019. https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/may2017/case-brain-science-guided-play. 

 

“Declaration on the Importance of Play”. ipaworld. Last modified 2014. http://ipaworld.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/IPA_Declaration-FINAL.pdf. 

 

“Convention on the Rights of the Child.” n.d. OHCHR. https://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CRC.aspx. 

 

Pronin Fromberg, Doris. Play and Meaning in Early Childhood Education. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2001. 

 

Gray, Peter. Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life. New York: Basic Books, 2013.

“Brain Architecture”. Center on the Developing Child. Accessed July 11th, 2019. https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/brain-architecture/. 

 

Bassok, Daphna, Scott Latham, and Anna Rorem. “Is Kindergarten the New First Grade?”. AERA Open 2, no. 1 (2016). doi: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2332858415616358. 

 

“The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Kids Age Zero to Eight 2017: Common Sense Media.” Common Sense Media: Ratings, Reviews, and Advice, 19 Oct. 2017, http://cdn.cnn.com/cnn/2017/images/11/07/csm_zerotoeight_full.report.final.2017.pdf. 

 

“Convention on the Rights of the Child.” OHCHR, https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx. 

 

“Executive Function & Self-Regulation.” Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/executive-function/. 

 

“Marc Brackett, Ph.D.” Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, http://ei.yale.edu/person/marc-brackett-ph-d/. 

 

Strauss, Valerie. “Why so many kids can’t sit still in school today”. The Washington Post, July 8th, 2014. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2014/07/08/why-so-many-kids-cant-sit-still-in-school-today/?utm_term=.5d0b2cc4aa49. 

 

Almon, Joan. “National Association of Elementary School Principals: Serving All Elementary and Middle-Level Principals.” n.d. NAESP. https://www.naesp.org/principal-septemberoctober-2013-early-learning/it-s-playtime.

 

Goodwin, John, Paul Polman, Jesper Brodin, and Gary Knell. “To play is to learn. Time to step back and let kids be kid”. World Economic Forum, January 25th, 2018. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/01/to-play-is-to-learn/. 

 

Barros, Romina M., Ellen J. Silver, and Ruth E. K. Stein. “School Recess and Group Classroom Behavior”. Pediatrics 123, no. 2 (2009). Accessed August 2, 2019. https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/123/2/431. 

 

“Permissions, Reprint, and Translation Requests”. NAEYC. Accessed August 2, 2019. https://www.naeyc.org/resources/permissions.

“Reprints and Permissions”. Zero to Three. Accessed August 2, 2019. https://www.zerotothree.org/permissions. 

 

Curwood, Jen Scott. “What Happened to Kindergarten?”. Scholastic. https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/what-happened-kindergarten/.

 

Twenge, Jean M. “Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?”. The Atlantic, September 2017. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/has-the-smartphone-destroyed-a-generation/534198/.

 

Heron, Melonie. “Deaths: Leading Causes for 2014”. National Vital Statistics Reports 65, no. 5 (2016): 1-96. Accessed August 2, 2019. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr65/nvsr65_05.pdf. 

 

“Teaching Peace in Elementary School”. Association For Psychological Science. November 25, 2015. https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/teaching-peace-in-elementary-school.html. 

 

Meek, Shantel. “Social-Emotional and Behavioral Health and Development are the Foundations of Learning”. North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation, September 9, 2015. https://buildthefoundation.org/2015/09/social-emotional-and-behavioral-health-and-development-are-the-foundations-of-learning/. 

 

Dewar, Gwen. “The cognitive benefits of play: Effects on the learning brain”. Parenting Science. https://www.parentingscience.com/benefits-of-play.html. 

 

Brown, Christopher Pierce, Beth Smith Feger, and Brian Mowry. “Helping Others Understand Academic Rigor in Teachers’ Developmentally Appropriate Practices”. Young Children 70, no. 4 (2015). Accessed August 20, 2019. https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/sep2015/helping-others-understand-academic-rigor.

 

DePaoli, Jennifer L., Matthew N. Atwell, and John Bridgeland. “Ready to Lead: A National Principal Survey on How Social and Emotional Learning Can Prepare Children and Transform Schools”. CASEL. http://www.casel.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/ReadyToLead_FINAL.pdf. 

 

“Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8”. NAEYC. Accessed August 20, 2019. https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/PDFs/resources/position-statements/PSDAP.pdf. 

 

“Hardwired”. NPR. Accessed August 20, 2019. https://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/545024014/hardwired. 

 

Almon, Joan. “Improving Children’s Health through Play: Exploring Issues and Recommendations”. Alliance for Childhood, 2018. http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/sites/allianceforchildhood.org/files/file/Improving_Children_s_Health_Through_Play.pdf. 

 

“Technology and Interactive Media as Tools in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8”. NAEYC. Accessed August 20, 2019. https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/PDFs/resources/topics/PS_technology_WEB.pdf. 

 

“The decline of academic skills and creativity”. KaBoom. Accessed August 20, 2019. https://kaboom.org/resources/play_research/21st_century_skills_and_education. 

Breaking Bad Behavior, The Rise of Classroom Disruptions in Early Grades and How Districts Are Responding (EAB, 2019) http://pages.eab.com/rs/732-GKV-655/images/BreakingBadBehaviorStudy.pdf, 

Ingersoll, R., Merrill, L., & Stuckey, D. (2014). Seven trends: the transformation of the teaching force, updated April 2014. CPRE Report (#RR-80). Philadelphia: Consortium for Policy Research in Education, University of Pennsylvania. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/much-more-common-core/201611/the-teacher-burnout-epidemic-part-1-2

The National Survey of Children’s Health (2012) (ACE study)