Playing for Keeps

What We Know About Play:
A Walk through the Selected Research

The objective is to create a comprehensive, categorized database that summarizes the knowledge base and make it easily available to anyone who needs it, including scholars, educators, human services practitioners, parents, and the toy and children's entertainment industries.

In addition, the project will bring together scholars and practitioners to identify gaps in the knowledge base and develop strategies for filling them.

Categorizing types of research
Similar to most child development topics, a vast number of possible questions exists about play that are appropriate for researchers to tackle.

Any early childhood educator or caregiver who wants to do learn more by going through the literature might organize their efforts into these categories:
- A review of basic theories about child development
- Studies that document the developmental benefits of play for children

01 • 02 • 03 • 04 • 05 • 06 • 07 • 08 • 09 • 10 • Resources

Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning....They have to play with what they know to be true in order to find out more, and then they can use what they learn in new forms of play.

--Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood