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

THE POWER OF PLAY How Spontaneous, Imaginative Activities Lead to Happier, Healthier Children

BY DAVID ELKIND DE CAPO LIFELONG BOOKS 2007, 240 PAGES, $24.00

The subtitle to this book aptly applies to adults as well as kids. Grownups also need hobbies, creative outlets, and downtime, just like their children. The literature of play is extensive, although it has different meanings. One can see this in the terms, "Play ball!"--the umpire's order to start the game; artists will speak of a "play on light"; grammarians of a "play on words"; sex counselors on the importance of "foreplay" Philosophically, play, as an activity, is in a class by itself. Its purpose is pure fun, and play in the service of work or exercise, etc. fundamentally is a prostitution of play. Professional athletic teams do not play games; they work at them. Enough of these abstractions, however. The author's concern and expertise is in the field of child development and it is that to which he addresses the issue of play.

David Elkind is professor of child development at Tufts University and a noted authority on that subject. He has written a number of books, probably the most highly acclaimed being The Hurried Child. There, Elkind deals with the child who is all grown up but has no place to go. He sees dangerous trends in child raising and education that he maintains are harmful to youngsters--and to society itself. Kids are overscheduled, causing tension in them and their parents. They are expected to achieve more and more, earlier and earlier. Traditionally, there has been kindergarten (Frederick Froebel was its founder), then preschool, and now even pre-preschool. We are urged to remember that "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

The President's "No Child Left Behind" legislation sets up national standards and local school districts are running themselves ragged to achieve them. Many are eliminating recess to give more time to academics. Elkind deplores these trends and that of parents pushing their children too hard, too soon. By doing so, mothers and fathers hope to give their proteges a competitive edge, not realizing this is a vicious circle. He advises them to be lighthearted and see the value of their youngsters' "just fooling around" Play is not a luxury for children, but a vital necessity that promotes creativity and pleasure. Up to the ages of six or seven, play should be the dominant activity. Then, love and work start to enter into the child's development and between 16-19, play, love, and work find an equilibrium. Here, the adolescent moves from the external world to the social one.

He decries the fact that movies, video games, television, and modern toys leave little to the imagination and has a chapter cleverly entitled, "Toys Aren't Us." He would like a return to books, instead of videos, as the former make us use our imagination. In earlier times, erector sets gave us the freedom to invent and build instead of forcing us to a certain pre-established pattern. Toys used to require participation: winding, spinning, pushing, or pulling; running and flying a kite; working jigsaw puzzles; etc. Nowadays, toys have batteries and computer chips to do the work.

Elkind follows in the footsteps of earlier educational innovators--such as John Dewey--who deplored viewing the child as a miniature adult, rather than a being in his or her own right as a child. He praises the talents of Dr. Seuss, who was loved by all---children and adults. Jean Piaget is a favorite and many ideas of Sigmund Freud are incorporated in Elkind's remedies for the reform of education. His model, though, is Maria Montessori and the international network of schools her works established. Elkind's ideas are recommended by no less an authority than T. Berry Brazelton, the preeminent childhood specialist of Harvard University.

In this reviewers estimate, with the experience of raising six children, Elkind definitely is with it. Kids are the greatest resource that a nation has and their proper development truly is a national concern. Hurrah for this professor and his ideas.

Reviewed by

GERALD F. KREYCHE

American Thought Editor

COPYRIGHT 2007 Society for the Advancement of Education
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning