This is the third episode in a nine-episode series! (Find them all here.)
In this episode, we’re digging into why we play for brain development and real learning. There are many people who say they support play for young children, but question whether or not we need play in school, or who might argue that play is important, as long as we get the work of learning done first. So today, we’ll talk about why play and learning aren’t as separate as people might think.
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Notes from the Show:
(*May contain affiliate links.)
Play: How is Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul by Dr. Stuart Brown
Brains at Play – NPR Ed
A new path to education reform: Playful learning promotes 21st-century skills in schools and beyond (Hirsh-Pasek, et al, 2020)
Guided Play: Principles and Practices (Weisberg, Hirsh-Pasek, et al, 2016)
Accessing the Inaccessible: Redefining Play as a Spectrum (Zosh, Hirsh-Pasek, et al, 2018)
The Case of Brian Science and Guided Play: A Developing Story (Hassinger-Das, Hirsh-Pasek, Golinkoff, 2017)
A Mandate for Playful Learning in Preschool by Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, Laura E. Berk and Dorothy G Singer
Making School Work: An equation for active playful learning (2023)
The Double-edged Sword of Pedagogy: Instruction limits spontaneous exploration and discovery (2011)
Taking Shape: Supporting Preschoolers’ Acquisition of Geometric Knowledge Through Guided Play (2013)
Why We Play
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