ABSTRACT
Through play children build their imaginations, learn how to problem solve, and navigate social networks face-to-face. Recognition comes from the feeling of mastery and approval from someone outside yourself. In literacy classrooms, we love the power that comes from practice, mastery, and recognition. Yet, when our classrooms are rooted in play, with time committed for students to play with ideas, with one another, and with materials, we build a wheel of happiness through our methods that allows for play-practice-mastery-recognition cycles to continuously happen. When we invite students to play with materials in new ways as creators, we invite creativity but also the opportunity for social connection. To support students to play with materials in new ways, turn to the work of illustrators that are breaking new ground in the world of children's literature through their innovative techniques.
