ABSTRACT
This chapter presents various aspects of play, how to recognize it, and what it means to kids. In addition to social skills, children develop motor skills, spatial sense, creativity, organizational and classification skills, observational skills, abstract thinking, and hand–eye coordination through play. Play is central even to games or products whose primary function is to teach, rather than to entertain. Play distinguishes itself from traditional approaches because it engages innate learning patterns and methods. Play is an increasingly important aspect of school curricula because of its universality, its contributions to information retention, and its appeal to different learning modalities. Play is not frivolous or trivial in its impact on humans. It is a basic biological and psychological function that supports our health and well-being in countless ways each day, lowering our stress, helping us learn new skills, or facilitating congenial relationships.
