| Abstract: | A recent national survey has proven that all young children need to feel confident in themselves and in what they do. The best people to promote this feeling of well-being are teachers and parents. These activities have been written to help adults develop a child's self-worth through directed play. Appropriate for boys and girls, the games may be played on three levels: as everyday enrichment activities, as preschool educational experiences, and as just plain fun. They can be played in child care situations or at home. Learningames emphasize noncompetitive games, stressing each child's uniqueness and abilities to problem solve in a non-threatening way while learning the essential daily and early-learning skills. These games have been proven to be meaningful ones with developmentally handicapped children, as well as with normal children.Joseph Sparling is a research associate professor at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Isabelle Lewis, formerly a director of day care centers, is also a research associate at the Graham Center. This article is excerpted fromLearningames for Threes and Fours: A Guide to Adult-Child Play, Walker and Co., New York, © 1984. |
