Why Play Matters: 101 Activities for Developmental Play to Support Young Children

Playfulness is fundamental to healthy development. Full of practical activities, this book shows why play matters, how it works, and why readers should bring play back into children’s lives to give them the best chance in life. It is essential reading for early years practitioners, primary school teachers, occupational therapists, and parents.

This accessible book is full of play-based activities to support child development. Grounded in evidence-based practice, it inspires and informs readers to understand play, and offers ideas and practical activities to use with the children in their care (ages 0-8).

Drawing from the holistic and inclusive model of Developmental Play, which includes sensory play, creative-explorative play, meaning-making play and higher play, the activities focus on supporting aspects of social, emotional, physical and cognitive development. Each activity follows the helpful structure: “you’ll need,” “your child will learn” and “top tips,” and shows how play can be used to enhance children’s development in five key areas:

• To build emotional wellbeing
• To build social skills
• To build school readiness
• To build physical skills
• To develop sensory processing skills.

Playfulness is fundamental to healthy holistic development and this book shows you why play matters, how it works, and why each reader should bring play back into children’s lives to give them the best start in life for the best chance in life. It is essential reading for early years practitioners, primary school teachers, occupational therapists and parents.

UK Delivery:

• Free delivery on all orders of £10 or more.
• £1.49 delivery fee on orders below £10.
• UK orders are shipped via Royal Mail 2nd Class.

International Delivery:

• Flat rate delivery charges vary by country.

Dispatch and Delivery Times:

• All orders are shipped from our warehouse in Northampton, UK within 48 hours of receipt during working hours.
• UK mainland orders typically arrive within 3-5 working days via Royal Mail 2nd Class.
• International estimated delivery times:
• Europe & Channel Islands: 7 to 10 working days
• USA: 7 to 15 working days
• Rest of the World: 9 to 21 working days

View our full delivery infomation here.