Lynn E. Cohen is an associate professor in the Department of Special Education and Literacy at Long Island University, C.W. Post. Her research interests are related to the social and philosophical dimensions of children’s play and equity in school settings. She has been involved in a university school partnership, providing administrative support for a play-based early childhood curriculum. Sandra Waite-Stupiansky is a professor of early childhood and special education at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She studies and teaches child development and early childhood education curriculum, particularly the role of outdoor play. She edits Play, Policy, and Practice Connections, a publication of the Play, Policy, and Practice Interest Forum of the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

This collection of ten essays delves into the psychological and cultural complexities related to children's play. The contributors draw on a wide variety of theorists, including Mikhail Bakhtin, Sigmund Freud, Ernst Jentsch, and Jean Piaget.

• ContentsList of IllustrationsForewordJim JohnsonAcknowledgmentsIntroductionLynn E. Cohen & Sandra Waite-StupianskyI. A Polyphony of Play: Researchers' Voices1. Children’s Playful Consumption: The Hidden Negotiations of the Playground and the HomeAbby Loebenberg2. Children’s Play Preferences in the Pacific Rim: Then and NowRobyn Holmes3. Play-based vs Teacher-Directed Pedagogy: Rationale for Action Research in Teacher Education Michael Patte 4. Family Words as Creative and Affiliative Play Evangeline Nwokah, Kelly Graves, and Joanne NaylorII. A Polyphony of Play: Theorists' Voices5. The Conservation of Meaning as a Function of Constraints in the Social Context of Puzzles: Piaget’s Social Theory Revisited Keith Alward6. Pinpointing Play at the Edge of the Uncanny Valley Scott G. EberleIII. A Polyphony of Play: Voices from Technology7. Play, Technology Toy Affordances, and Brain Development—Considering Research and Policy Issues Doris Bergen8. Game-ify Learning: Using What We Know about Games and Play to Motivate LearnersNancy MarksburyIV. A Polyphony of Play: Advocates' Voices9. Play in the New Developmentally Appropriate Practice: Analysis and CritiqueDavid Kuschner10. Preserving Play in Early Childhood Classrooms: Suggestions for Early Childhood Teacher Education and Policy Jennifer A. Vu, Myae Han, & Martha J. Buell