Playgrounds are intended to be fun, safe places to take children to visit and play. The National Playground Safety Institute (NPSI), a program developed under the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA), identified twelve of the leading causes of injury on playgrounds known as "The Dirty Dozen."
Author and educator Diana Huss Green gathered a group of parents who were concerned that their high standards for their children's education were not being fulfilled. They formed the Parents' Choice Foundation, a non-commercial clearinghouse to review children's books, toys, music, television, software, video games, websites, and magazines.
When studying play development in young children, parallel play is a description of children playing side by side, but not interacting with each other to continue their play.
The jump rope is a familiar children's toy on the playground. It has been a popular toy for centuries and was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2000. Jump ropes are affordable, lightweight, and portable and offer exercise as well as fun activities for children.
John Locke was one of the most important philosophers of the late 17th century. His writings influenced thought on human understanding, civil rights, childhood education, government structure, and separation of church and state.
Little League Baseball, Inc. is a nonprofit youth sports program created to assist youth in developing discipline, teamwork, courage, loyalty, good character, and strong physical health. Little League was "designed to develop superior citizens rather than superior athletes."
Mike Lanza wrote Playborhood: Turn Your Neighborhood into a Place for Play as a “road map” for solving the “free play problem” confronting families living in a world of safety fears, school encroachment, and adult structured activities. Mike highlights eight diverse neighborhoods where free play is being supported and then outlines six key suggestions for creating such a neighborhood where children can “laugh and run and think... every day.”
The Reggio Emilia Approach is an approach to teaching children based on observing what children know, what they are curious about, and what challenges them. The emergent curriculum develops as the teachers actively seek out and follow the interests of the children.
Scaffolding is an instructional technique that provides support to a learner to build on his prior knowledge helping him internalize new concepts or perform more difficult tasks. The assistance provided by a more knowledgeable person to help another learn to perform a task is a temporary framework that is gradually removed as the learner masters the task.
The specialized movement phase typically begins around age seven when children begin to develop a keen interest in sports. Proper development of fundamental movement skills combined with more precise movement skills are necessary to be able to efficiently develop specialized movement skills.
