The Hurried Child: growing up too fast too soon was written by David Elkind, Ph.D. The author calls attention to the crippling effects of hurrying children through life and blurring the boundaries of what is age-appropriate for them by expecting too much of them too soon forcing them to grow up too fast.
Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky was a Russian psychologist who was born in 1896 in Belorussia, now known as Belarus. He received a law degree from the University of Moscow but also studied literature, linguistics, sociology, psychology, philosophy, and the arts. Vygotsky developed the concept of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).
Playwork is the support given by adults in an unobtrusive way of children's open-ended, creative free play. During a play session, Playworkers are available to assist a child if needed, but strive to be as inconspicuous as possible to allow the children to direct their own play.
Open-ended play allows children to express themselves in play freely and creatively, not bound by preset limitations. Playing with open-ended materials with multiple uses and limitless possibilities, such as molding clay, wet sand, paint, blocks and other loose parts, allow for imaginative play.
The National Museum of Play is one of America's largest history museums and the nation's second largest children's museum. With a vast collection of dolls, toys, and games, it is dedicated to exploring "play and the ways in which it encourages learning, creativity, and discovery and illuminates cultural history."
Friedrich Froebel was truly a pioneer in early childhood education. He established a new type of school for three and four year old children in 1837, which he called a child's garden or kindergarten. Prior to this there had been no educational training for children under the age of seven.
Climbing is an activity that children enjoy from an early age. They climb for excitement and the feeling of achievement. Exploration is an important part of climbing, whether they are climbing a tree or scaling a rock wall.
Affective development is the development of emotions as well as their outward expression that begins in infancy and progresses throughout adolescence. It encompasses the awareness and discernment of one's emotions as well as those of others, the ability to connect emotions to those of others, to display emotion, and to manage one's own emotions.
Advertised as the “world’s first official indoor ball,” the NERF ball has the distinction of being a safe option for throwing a ball indoors. The NERF brand has expanded to include sports equipment, plastic guns that use foam darts and balls, and water guns that appeal to children and adults alike.
Patty Smith Hill (1868-1946) was a leader in the Kindergarten movement and an advocate of the value of free play in the education of young children. Although the theory and methods of Friedrich Froebel were accepted in most kindergartens at the time, Hill studied the work of other leading educators and challenged the practice of following Froebel's methods explicitly.
