New Book on the History of Children's Play by Dr. Frost
Joe Frost’s latest book on children’s play, A History of Children’s Play and Play Environments: Toward a Contemporary Child Saving Movement, will be published by Routledge in New York and London in October, 2009.
Children’s play has historically been free, spontaneous, intertwined with work, and set in the playgrounds of the wilderness, fields, streams, and barnyards. Children in cities enjoyed similar forms of play but their playgrounds were the vacant lands, parks, streets, and surrounding countryside or seashore. Today, children have become increasingly inactive, abandoning traditional outdoor play for sedentary, indoor cyber play, and diets of junk food. The consequences of play deprivation, the elimination and diminution of recess, and the abandonment of outdoor play are fundamental issues in a growing crisis that threatens the health, learning, and development of children.
This valuable book traces the history of children’s play and play environments from their roots in ancient Greece and Rome to the present time in the high stakes testing environment. The author explores the evolving nature of children’s play in both natural and built play environments, chronicles its benefits, and identifies impediments to play and play environments. Through this exploration, he shows how this history informs where we are today and why we need to re-establish play as a priority. Ultimately, proposing active solutions to play deprivation—a much needed child saving movement to preserve children’s free, spontaneous outdoor play, recess, and natural and built play environments. This book is essential reading for scholars, researchers, and students in the fields of early childhood education and child development.
“As I read Joe Frost’s book, I find myself repeatedly asking and finding answers to major questions about human nature, culture and the future of our species. It is clear between the lines and from the evidence presented that the destinies of our pluralistic society, the ability to pass on health and well being and perhaps the survival of the world itself requires adherence to the solutions he shows as being now mandatory in the realities of the 21st century. So this is more than a historic review. It speaks to the heart of what it is to be fully human, and to be so requires a legacy of play. – From the foreword by Stuart Brown, M.D., Founder of the National Institute of Play
Joe Frost, an esteemed pioneer in his field, has produced a must read for everyone concerned about the health and well-being of children.A History ofChildren's Play and Play Environmentsis a wake up call to the essential need to bring back unstructured play and the dire consequences for an increasingly sedentary society. - Richard Louv, author of "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder"
Joe L. Frost is Parker Centennial Professor Emeritus, University of Texas.
