Playing to Learn, Vol. 1 »

Create meaningful experiences and engage children in learning through play. Playing to Learn gives you hundreds of activities to make learning fun through games, small group activities, stories, and more. These games and activities promote learning every day of the week, every week of the year. Sure to become a classroom favorite, Playing to Learn has everything you need to create wonderful learning experiences for young children. 192 pages.

Carol Seefeldt is Professor Emeritus at the University of Maryland. She has written 21 books and over 150 articles for teachers and parents. This is her first book with Gryphon House.

Children's Literature

Written by a respected early childhood professor and author, this book of experiences for preschoolers is based on the NAEYC principles that activities for children need to be age appropriate, goal directed, integrated, continuous, language-filled and socially oriented. There are eight areas of interest, such as activities for wet and rainy days, hot and sunny days, days when things go wrong and so on. The introduction explains Seefeldt's framework and philosophy and briefly describes the developmental levels of 2, 3, 4 and 5 year-olds. There is a word to readers about adapting each activity for special needs children; also about connecting the school experience with home, so important in the team approach to early childhood education. There is an emphasis on fitting each activity into the whole-child approach to learning, and reflection upon completion of each activity for future planning. Materials and directions are clearly listed and easy to follow. Including the areas of development targeted within each activity would have been a plus for beginning teachers, however, there is a wealth of resources included, which is always of use to teachers seeking inspiration. 2001, Gryphon House, $19.95. Ages Adult. Reviewer: Meredith Kiger