The Power of Play: How Spontaneous, Imaginative Activities Lead to Happier, Healthier Children

Great information, very interesting, awesome information for early childhood educators, teachers, and Naturalists. Important for parents to read and understand the need to let our children develop at thier own rate.

The Power of Play: How Spontaneous, Imaginative Activities Lead to Happier, Healthier Children is a greatly written book by David Elkind. I chose this book because I was very interested in how play affects young children. I am working toward becoming a teacher for young children and someday wish to become a parent. This book has opened my eyes and will help me become a better parent and teacher. I realized through Elkind's writing that play is essential to young children's social and cognitive development. I will be sure to incorporate play into my children's daily activities. Elkind does a great job in presenting his points through his thorough research and great examples. This book is well worth reading for parents and teachers. It will completely open your eyes to the power of play! - OSU Comp Student 2009

This book helped me to realize that parenting young children can be a lot more relaxed than society would have us believe. I loved that it pointed out how expensive "learning toys" like leapfrog products are more about marketing to parents than anything else. A great read for anyone with young children.

Elkind is my kind of guy. In this book he talks about balance, balance, balance. His book addresses play in children infancy thru the elementary years, for the most part. He talks about what play does exactly for children's intellect, social skills and imagination. I would suggest this book to parents of kids ages 0-7. Educators and the late elemantary set will get something from this book, but not as much as folks parenting and working with younger children. What I have enjoyed so much about this book is that he is not extreme in his ideas. He endorses tv and video games mildly, and then leads parents into selecting the right kind of show or game. He talks about the pros and cons of these entertainment modes. He talks about the balance of planned sports/activities, and free, individually motivated play. He offers some guidelines in this area. He addresses his ideas developmentally, and explains each developmental stage. He will talk about kids in the "concrete operational stage" which usually happens around the age of 6, but sometimes sooner, sometimes later. I think the American Public cannot read enough about the importance of play for children of all ages.In an age where recess is being eliminated from schools in order to raise test scores, we need work like Elkind's to remind us of the importance of not overscheduling our children. This read, where I enjoyed it, isn't my favorite book. But I like the info within, I like how it is organized, and believe whole-heartedly in the point that David Elkind is making. It is an intelligent book, and doesn't "dummy-down" to the parent. I learned quite a bit, and as a mother and and educator appreciated that most of all.

The essense of this book can be stated pretty quickly. Turn off the television. Play games with the kid. Encourage her to play with other kids. Don't schedule every evening. Carefully select toys/gifts. Now all you have to do is understand each of these points and put them into practice. Perhaps few points should leave you with a few questions like: what kind of games to play? What kinds of gifts/toys? But I'm scheduling educational things? Of course, reading this book will explain all these points and more. This book comes right after a major report on the importance of play by the American Academy of Pediatrics. It reflects on and expands the report to give specific suggestions, and explains why those suggestions are so important. And I'm going to add one more of my own. Spend every moment you can with them. We have them for such a short time before they are gone off to live their own lives.