“Let us play, teacher, please. But we didn't have time to play. Come on, teacher, please, let us play a little longer.” These phrases from kindergarten children are the main motivation for writing this book. In kindergartens, it is often observed that children aged 3-6 beg for their basic right to play; a phenomenon that arises from adults' perceptions in modern societies that children must perform activities set by an adult in order to succeed, rather than express themselves and explore through play.
This perception is as paradoxical as letting children go hungry, thirsty, or sleep-deprived in anticipation of their success. Some of the issues examined in the book include the following: To what extent do the adults accompanying a child in their development and education (parents, teachers, guardians, or caretakers) adequately utilize the wealth of possibilities and opportunities offered by play? To what extent do they observe the child in their play and participate in it themselves?
What do they know about what play is and its implications for the child's learning and development processes? What do they also know about the possibilities of supporting the child's development and education through play? What conditions are needed for play to properly fulfill its role in the child's development processes? How can an adult create an appropriate and stimulus-rich environment for the child's play? What is the general role of an adult in children's play?
The main goal of the book is to contribute, from the perspective of Experiential Play-Psychopedagogics (Experiential, Heuristic, and Narrative-Dialectical Psychopedagogy), to the formation of a new approach to the parent-child, teacher-child, and generally adult-child interactions that supports multiple aspects of emotional, psychomotor, cognitive, socio-moral, creative, and other forms of learning and development for children.
