At the end of each chapter (topic), you will find additional resources that will help you learn more about the ideas addressed. These materials will provide more information that will allow you to explore aspects of the chapter that you find interesting or would like to gain more insight or understanding.

Webinars

• Children’s Lively Minds: Life-Changing Professional Development for Early Educators by Nadia Jaboneta and Deb Curtis (~ 1.5 hours)

Jaboneta and Curtis focus on helping teachers take a researcher’s perspective in understanding children’s play. The webinar allows educators to consider how children develop schema through play. To view this webinar you will need to request access.

• Enhancing Knowledge and Skill Development by Gently Guiding Play by Kathy Hirsh-Pasek & Shayna Cook (~ 53 minutes)

Watch the full discussion about the play continuum and playful learning in this webinar. Hirsh-Pasek & Cook share additional insights from research about the importance of play in children’s development.

• Guided Play with Roberta Golinkoff (~ 30 minutes)

This webinar from Sesame Street in Communities focuses on the importance of guided play. Golinkoff discusses different types of play and how they support children’s development. To view this webinar you will need to request access.

• Playing to Learn: Benefits of Play in Early Childhood by Amelia Bachleda (~ 58 minutes)

In this webinar from Head Start, Bachleda shares the developmental benefits of play for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers as well as how teachers can support and guide children’s play.

Podcast

• A Return to the Lost Art of Play with Dr. Christine McLean (~ 31 minutes)

In this episode of the podcast Rediscovering Play, McLean discusses the importance of free play for young children and how the recent pandemic has influenced children’s opportunities for free play.

Readings

• Learning Through Play: Strengthening Learning Through Play in Early Childhood Education Programmes by UNICEF (~51 minute read)

In this advocacy brief, learn about the importance of children’s first 8 years of development and the role of play in children’s learning. Also, the authors articulate the obstacles of incorporating play and suggestions for taking action.

• Sesame Street and Learning through Play An Interview with Rosemarie T. Truglio (~32 minute read)

In this interview from the American Journal of Play, Truglio discusses her work with Sesame Workshop as the senior vice president of curriculum and content. Truglio highlights new efforts to focus on play on Sesame Street and a newer effort called Esme and Roy.

• Playing on the Right Side of the Brain An Interview with Allan N. Schore (~73 minute read)

Allan N. Schore is a faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine. In this interview from American Journal of Play, Schore shares his research about the connections between attachment theory and infant’s early play experiences.

• The Power of Play: A Pediatric Role in Enhancing Development in Young Children by Michael Yogman, Andrew Garner, Jeffrey Hutchinson, Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff (~63 minute read)

In this clinical report from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the authors share several elements about play and the young child such as why play is important, descriptions of key types of play and how play develops in young children.

Additional Resource

• Types of Play (Recommended by Spring 2022)