1st Edition

Young Children's Play Development, Disabilities, and Diversity

By Jeffrey Trawick-Smith Copyright 2020
    298 Pages
    by Routledge

    298 Pages
    by Routledge

    Young Children’s Play: Development, Disabilities, and Diversity is an accessible, comprehensive introduction to play and development from birth to age 8 years that introduces readers to various play types and strategies and helps them determine when intervention might be needed. Skillfully addressing both typically developing children and those with special needs in a single volume, this book covers dramatic play, blocks, games, motor play, artistic play, and non-traditional play forms, such as humor, rough and tumble play, and more.

    Designed to support contemporary classrooms, this text deliberately interweaves practical strategies for understanding and supporting the play of children with specific disabilities (e.g. autism, Down syndrome, or physically challenging conditions) and those of diverse cultural backgrounds into every chapter. In sections divided by age group, Trawick-Smith explores strategies for engaging children with specific special needs, multicultural backgrounds, and incorporating adult–child play and play intervention. Emphasizing diversity in play behaviors, each chapter includes vignettes featuring children’s play and teacher interactions in classrooms to illustrate core concepts in action.

    Filled with research-based applications for professional practice, this text is an essential resource for students of early childhood and special education, as well as teachers and coaches supporting early grades or inclusive classrooms.

    Chapter 1. What Is Play and Why Is It Important?

    Chapter 2. Types of Play, Culture, and Disabilities

    Chapter 3. Social Play: Development and Variations

    Chapter 4. Adult-Child Play Interactions and Play Intervention

    Chapter 5. The Play of Infants and Toddlers

    Chapter 6. The Play of Preschool and Kindergarten Children

    Chapter 7. The Play of Primary Age Children

    Biography

    Jeffrey Trawick-Smith is Professor Emeritus in the Center for Early Childhood Education at Eastern Connecticut State University, USA.