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About Playing For Keeps
ACM adopted Playing for Keeps as a leadership
initiative in April 2008. Play has always been at the core of ACM's
work and that of its members. Yet play opportunities for young children
are diminishing, drawing increased concern from educators, parents
and the general public. Promoting the necessity of play and advocating
that communities and families make play a daily habit has become
more important than ever.
Goals
for the ACM Playing For Keeps Leadership Initiative
-
To elevate the discourse about the importance of play
-
To empower and support ACM members with resources and advocacy
tools
-
To position children's museums as vital early learning partners
in their communities
Playing for Keeps brings a rich research base
and resources to ACM and its members. Over the next several months
of transition, ACM will launch a Playing For Keeps microsite with
information on why play matters, how to get involved with local
organizations that support play and resources for parents, educators,
toy companies and the media about play.
Look for more PLAY-ful
details from ACM in the coming months!
History
Founded in 1998, Playing for Keeps was a national
not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting and protecting
the role of play in our society. The Playing for Keeps concept grew
out of a conversation that occurred between Dr. Ed Klugman, Professor
Emeritus at Wheelock College and John Lee, currently Director and
Principal Partner for Word World. What if, they mused, there were
a way to make play more wholesome, creative, and imaginative for
children and more targeted to their developmental needs? Could promoting
an environment of constructive play in our schools be part of the
solution to school-based violence? Shouldn't all children have access
to play that fits their developmental level, regardless of their
socioeconomic circumstances or abilities? Shouldn't parents be encouraged
to remember that kids need unstructured time in their day for imaginative
free play?
These and other concerns [including influencing
anyone who has a fingerprint on children and play, as for example
the toy and entertainment industry, researchers on play, teachers
and policy makers among others] led to the notion of creating Playing
for Keeps as a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to
promoting and protecting the role of play in our society. When the
Playing for Keeps Board was faced with transitioning the organization
to a new home, the Association of Children's Museums was at the
top of their list as an organization who would build upon the successes
of Playing for Keeps and the concept to a whole new level.
By integrating Playing for Keeps into ACM operations
as a leadership initiative, ACM is weaving myriad efforts into simple,
powerful messages. The Playing for Keeps leadership initiative is
designed to increase ACM members' capacity to provide high quality,
useful, widely available information about play to parents, early
childhood professionals, policymakers and industries serving the
play and learning needs of children.
ACM is grateful to the following organizations
and individuals, whose support will help fund a Playing for Keeps
microsite and an early childhood online research exchange:
Resources on Play
At this time, ACM is reviewing content from the
former Playing for Keeps Web site and collecting up-to-date resources.
Below is a preliminary list of play research and references. Email
ACM
if you have a resource recommendation that helps explain play's
impact on the development of young children.
Online Research Studies
and Position Papers
Kids
Dig Dirt! Green Paper
The Association of Children's Museums' Green Paper proposes that
children’s museums integrate outdoor spaces and experiences
that connect children and families to nature. It describes the crucial
impact that hands-on, immersive nature play can have on individual
health, environmental health and sustainable development. It provides
the vision as well as guiding principles and resources for developing
outdoor environments in children’s museums.
The
Case for Children's Museums
Amarketing resource tool that include a collection of facts, testimonials
and descriptive language museums can draw on while creating their
own case statement, proposal, volunteer training manual, board orientation
document or other organization materials. A detailed source list
is included.
Children's
Outdoor Play & Learning Environments: Returning to Nature
White Hutchinson Leisure & Learning Group, Kansas City, MO,
USA
Children
and Play
The Ohio State University Extension Factsheet
Chopsticks
and Counting Chips
Elena Bodrova, Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning,
and Deborah J. Leong, Metropolitan State College of Denver, paper
on the role of play and foundational skills in early childhood classrooms.
The
Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining
Strong Parent-Child Bonds
A clinical report by American Academy of Pediatrics
The
Nature of Children's Play
David Fernie, Wheelock College, and ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary
and Early Childhood Education posts a digest about children's play
and its relationship to developmental growth from infancy to middle
childhood. The digest also suggests ways in which educators and
other adults can support children's play.
PLAY:
ESSENTIAL FOR ALL CHILDREN
A position paper of the Association for Childhood Education International
The
Role of Pretend Play in Children's Cognitive Development
Doris Bergen Miami University, Oxford, OH. The article notes that
there is a growing body of evidence to suggest that high-quality
pretend play is an important facilitator of perspective taking and
later abstract thought, that it may facilitate higher-level cognition,
and that there are clear links between pretend play and social and
linguistic competence.
The
Serious Need for Play
Scientific American article that points to recent research on the
developmental benefits of play.
Standards
of Excellence in Early Learning: A Model for Chicago Children's
Museum®
Conducted over a two-year period with Gyroscope, Inc., a museum
planning, architecture and design firm, and the Erikson Institute,
a leading graduate school in child development, this study defines
the fundamental relationship between play and learning, and translates
the science of child development into clear benchmarks for Chicago
Children's Museum's (CCM) exhibits, programs, physical environment,
staff, and role in the community.
Taking
Play Seriously
New York Times Magazine feature on what can science tell us about
why kids run and jump.
What
Children Are Learning When They Play
Excerpt from SMART START The Parents' Guide To Preschool Education
by Marian Edelman Borden
Books/Journals
Hand to
Hand
The Association of Children's Museums quarterly journal highlights
national issues and trends in the youth museum field. Articles include
interviews with key individuals, program overviews and museum profiles.
American
Journal of Play
A forum for discussing the history, culture, and psychology of play.
An interdisciplinary quarterly of Strong National Museum of Play,
the Journal aims to increase awareness and understanding of the
role of play in learning and human development and the ways in which
play illuminates cultural history.
Children
at Play: An American History
by Howard Chudacoff
Throughout American history, argues Brown University historian Howard
Chudacoff, parents have sought to control their children's games
and toys, but kids have been determined to set the terms of their
play. Chudacoff's book provides historical depth to debates that
continue to rage over what constitutes appropriate child's play.
The
Power of Play: How Spontaneous, Imaginative Activities Lead to Happier,
Healthier Children
by David Elkind
David Elkind argues for the importance of unstructured play opportunities
in a modern world where organized activities, academics, television
and video games are replacing play time in children's lives. Parents
and educators will find simple, practical guidance for supporting
kids in development of creativity and social and cognitive skills.
Einstein
Never Used Flashcards: How Our Children Really Learn and Why
They Need to Play More and Memorize Less
by Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Golinkoff
Child development experts Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Golinkoff
make the case for play as the natural ways that children learn.
Translating scientific research into practical application, the
authors offer suggestions for parents and teachers to guide kids'
learning to nurture creative thinking and stimulate lifelong learning
in ways that pushing academics on young children does not achieve.
Pathways
to Play: Developing Play Skills in Young Children
by Sandra Heidemann
This book provides an overview of typical play development, a checklist
to evaluate a child's play skills and suggestions for addressing
play deficits. An essential book for parents or therapists working
with children who have autism or other developmental disabilities.
It would also be of use to parents or professionals who run playgroups.
Last
Child in the Woods
by Richard Louv
In this influential work about the staggering divide between children
and the outdoors, child advocacy expert Richard Louv directly links
the lack of nature in the lives of today's wired generation-he calls
it nature-deficit-to some of the most disturbing childhood trends,
such as the rises in obesity, attention disorders and depression.
The revised edition includes: 100 actions you can take to create
change in your community, school and family; 35 discussion points
to inspire people of all ages to talk about the importance of nature
in their lives and a progress report by the author about the growing
Leave No Child Inside movement.
Your
Child At Play Series
by Marilyn Segal
Established in 1986, now updated and expanded, based on more than
20 years of research and observation, written in jargon-free, parent-friendly
language, these books respect cultural differences and recognize
the value of different parenting styles. Their focus is to help
parents and caregivers turn everyday routines into playful learning
opportunities and enhance communication between children and adults.
The photos of real children at play are candid and reflect all cultures.
Play Advocates
Association of Children's
Museums
Alliance
for Childhood
American Academy
of Pediatrics
American
Specialty Toy Retailing Association
Association
for the Study of Play
Children
& Nature Network
Good
to Grow!
Hands
On! Europe
International
Play Association
The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop
Kiwanis International
National Association
for the Education of Young Children
The National
Institute for Play
National
Toy Hall of Fame
Parents
Action for Children
PBS Ready to
Learn
United
Way Born Learning Campaign
United Way of America
Youth Service America
ZERO TO
THREE
Documentary Film
Where
Do The Children Play?
Elizabeth Goodenough of the University
of Michigan was the originator of "Where Do the Children Play?,"
a one-hour documentary for public television, directed by Chris
Cook and produced by Michigan Television. The film examines how
restrictive patterns of sprawl, congestion, and endless suburban
development across America are impacting children's mental and physical
health and development. Goodenough also edited two companion volumes
to go with the film, Where Do the Children Play? and A
Place for Play.
For public screenings of the film, contact
the Alliance
for Childhood.
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Contact
To learn more about Playing For Keeps and
its activities, please contact Eliza
Katz, ACM Program Manager,
Executive Office & Special Projects, at 202-898-1080.
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