1. The Role of Play Throughout Life
Amanda Hamann
Educational Psychology
October 31, 2012

2. What is Play?
• Play is intrinsically
motivated, noninstrumental, or life
preserving behavior.
• Piaget’s Definition of Play
• Characteristics of play

3. Benefits of Play
• Helps refine and develop skills
• Play versus reality
• Symbolic Play

4. Parent’s and Play
• Parent’s thoughts on play
• Ways to encourage play
• Parent’s important role in child’s play

5. Play in the Classroom
• Room Setup
• Curriculum
• Teacher Roles in Child’s Play

6. Play As We Age
• Children – 3 to 6 years old
• Middle childhood- 7 to 12 years
• Adolescence- 13 to 18 years
• Adults- 18 and older

7. Video
• www.youtube.com/watch?v=khOxjQ4kTA4

8. True/ False Questions
• Play is becoming more like imitation.
• Parent’s have an important role in their child’s
play.
• Teacher’s should interact with everyone in the
room, and encourage their students to try
new experiences.

9. References
• AspenRayneDragon (2011, April 12). Kids Playing House- cute kids video [Video File].
Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khOxjQ4kTA4
• Biehler, R. F., Snowman, J., & McCown, R. (2012). Psychology applied to teaching (13rd ed.).
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cenage Learning.
• Bruner, J. S., Jolly, A., & Sylva, K. (1976). Play: Its role in development and evolution. New
York: Basic Books.
• Carlsson-Paige, N., & Carlsson-Paige, N. (2009). Taking back childhood: A proven road map for
raising confident, creative, compassionate kids. New York: Plume.
• Chance, P., Johnson & Johnson Baby Products Company, & Round Table on Play and Learning.
(1979). Learning through play: Summary of a pediatric round table cochaired by Brian Sutton-
Smith, Ph. D., and Richard Chase, M.D. New Brunswick, N.J: The Company.
• Göncü, A., & Klein, E. (2001). Children in play, story, and school. New York: Guilford Press.
• Isenberg, J. P., & Jalongo, M. R. (2001). Creative expression and play in early childhood
(3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J: Merrill.
• Marzollo, J., & Lloyd, J. (1972). Learning through play. New York: Harper & Row.
• Singer, D. G., & Singer, J. L. (1990). The house of make-believe: Children's play and the
developing imagination. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
• Slade, A., & Wolf, D. (1994). Children at play: Clinical and developmental approaches to
meaning and representation. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Van, H. J., Nourot, P. M., Scales, B., & Alward, K. R. (2003). Play at the center of curriculum
(3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J: Merrill/Prentice Hall.