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PEDAL Hub Library

We’ve rounded up a set of high-quality play resources for you to explore. The library houses a collection of links that will take you to peer-reviewed publications, videos of play experts, and websites that may be of interest to you.

You can use the filters below to find the resources that best match your interests. The library can be sorted by format (journal papers, videos, blogs etc.), child age, and type of play.

Happy exploring!

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Guided Play: Principles and Practices
Title: Guided Play: Principles and Practices
Abstract:
Publication year: 2016
Date: 01/06/2016
Volume: 25
Page/s: 177-182
The language of play: Developing preschool vocabulary through play following shared book-reading
Title: The language of play: Developing preschool vocabulary through play following shared book-reading
Abstract:
Publication year: 2018
Date: 01/10/2018
Volume: 45
Page/s: 1-17
Making play work for education
Guided Play: Principles and Practices
Title: Guided Play: Principles and Practices
Abstract:
Publication year: 2016
Date: 01/06/2016
Volume: 25
Page/s: 177-182
The language of play: Developing preschool vocabulary through play following shared book-reading
Title: The language of play: Developing preschool vocabulary through play following shared book-reading
Abstract:
Publication year: 2018
Date: 01/10/2018
Volume: 45
Page/s: 1-17
How Guided Play Promotes Early Childhood Learning
The power of possibility: causal learning, counterfactual reasoning, and pretend play

We argue for a theoretical link between the development of an extended period of immaturity in human evolution and the emergence of powerful and wide-ranging causal learning mechanisms, specifically the use of causal models and Bayesian learning. We suggest that exploratory childhood learning, childhood play in particular, and causal cognition are closely connected. We report […]

Title: The power of possibility: causal learning, counterfactual reasoning, and pretend play
Abstract:

We argue for a theoretical link between the development of an extended period of immaturity in human evolution and the emergence of powerful and wide-ranging causal learning mechanisms, specifically the use of causal models and Bayesian learning. We suggest that exploratory childhood learning, childhood play in particular, and causal cognition are closely connected. We report an empirical study demonstrating one such connection—a link between pretend play and counterfactual causal reasoning. Preschool children given new information about a causal system made very similar inferences both when they considered counterfactuals about the system and when they engaged in pretend play about it. Counterfactual cognition and causally coherent pretence were also significantly correlated even when age, general cognitive development and executive function were controlled for. These findings link a distinctive human form of childhood play and an equally distinctive human form of causal inference. We speculate that, during human evolution, computations that were initially reserved for solving particularly important ecological problems came to be used much more widely and extensively during the long period of protected immaturity.

Publication year: 2012
Date: 28/07/2022
Volume: 367
Page/s: 2202-2212
Embracing complexity: Rethinking the relation between play and learning: Comment on Lillard et al. (2013)

Lillard et al. (2013) concluded that pretend play is not causally related to child outcomes and charged that the field is subject to a play ethos, whereby research is tainted by a bias to find positive effects of play on child development. In this commentary, we embrace their call for a more solidly scientific approach […]

Title: Embracing complexity: Rethinking the relation between play and learning: Comment on Lillard et al. (2013)
Abstract:

Lillard et al. (2013) concluded that pretend play is not causally related to child outcomes and charged that the field is subject to a play ethos, whereby research is tainted by a bias to find positive effects of play on child development. In this commentary, we embrace their call for a more solidly scientific approach to questions in this important area of study while offering 2 critiques of their analysis. First, we urge researchers to take a more holistic approach to the body of evidence on play and learning, rather than relying on piecemeal criticisms of individual studies, since positive effects of play on learning emerge despite the use of a variety of methods, contents, and experimental conditions. Second, we consider how best to study this topic in the future and propose moving away from traditional empirical approaches to more complicated statistical models and methods that will allow us to embrace the full variety and complexity of playful learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Publication year: 2013
Date: 28/07/2022
Volume: 139
Page/s: 35-39
Guided Play: Where Curricular Goals Meet a Playful Pedagogy

Decades of research demonstrate that a strong curricular approach to preschool education is important for later developmental outcomes. Although these findings have often been used to support the implementation of educational programs based on direct instruction, we argue that guided play approaches can be equally effective at delivering content and are more developmentally appropriate in […]

Title: Guided Play: Where Curricular Goals Meet a Playful Pedagogy
Abstract:

Decades of research demonstrate that a strong curricular approach to preschool education is important for later developmental outcomes. Although these findings have often been used to support the implementation of educational programs based on direct instruction, we argue that guided play approaches can be equally effective at delivering content and are more developmentally appropriate in their focus on child-centered exploration. Guided play lies midway between direct instruction and free play, presenting a learning goal, and scaffolding the environment while allowing children to maintain a large degree of control over their learning. The evidence suggests that such approaches often outperform direct-instruction approaches in encouraging a variety of positive academic outcomes. We argue that guided play approaches are effective because they create learning situations that encourage children to become active and engaged partners in the learning process.

Publication year: 2013
Date: 28/07/2022
Volume: 7
Page/s: 104–112
Which Counterfactuals Matter? A Response to Beck
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