Books & Resources
The Power of Play
ALA Editions
Maria Montessori, the famed physician and educator, once said “play is a child’s work.” The question is not whether play is valuable – it is - or whether libraries can be a focal point for children’s learning through play – they most certainly are. Rather, the question should be, “How can parents and caregivers inspire children to learn through purposeful play?”
Libraries can debate the fact that designing and maintaining play areas is challenging and perhaps even complicated - or you can relax, bounce ideas off each other, and savor this joyful work. Stop being a professional librarian for a moment and enter the play dimension. Remember what it was like to ride your tricycle or dig in a sandbox or play house.
After all the goal of play - whether in a small or large space, inside library buildings or in the community - is to have fun, so ponder these ideas, enjoy yourself, and relish the process. It’s clear to us that each situation is different, and you will have to find your own budget possibilities, space potential, and creative spark. But like in the Harry Potter novels you can find the right ingredients for magic and create a child’s port key to travel into the powerful world of play.
Try looking at a reading nook in your library with a fresh perspective. Perhaps you have a dozen picture books and two children’s chairs. How can you reinvent this space and put some potential for fun and play into it? What about the parents’ role in play? How can you fill up this space so that children know what to do and parents want to stay with them? What can you do so that children are free to choose play activities and parents are empowered about what they can do to inspire a sense of discovery?
By asking effective questions such as these, you can dress up, spruce up, and elevate the quality of your reading nook at low cost and low maintenance. Imagine now that for $300 you’ve expanded your reading nook to include a box of shape sorters, a bag of puppets, five green and speckled frogs with log, and a board with magnetic letters and numbers. You add an adult size chair or loveseat. You have just created your port key for play that will magnetically draw children to want to play and charm parents into joining the fun.
Excerpt adaptation from the Introduction of The Power of Play: Designing Early Learning Spaces by Dorothy Stoltz, Marisa Conner, and James Bradberry. (Chicago: ALA Editions. An Imprint of the American Library Association © Copyright 2015 by Dorothy Stoltz, Marisa Conner, and James Bradberry. All Rights Reserved.)
