Anytime I present or post about play it happens. Someone raises a hand, sends a message, or reaches out because they are fearful play is going to disappear in their school or district. It saddens me, but then I remind them of the one tool we have in our arsenal to combat the elimination of play in our classrooms - research.
Below are a few slides from my presentation on play and links to the full research behind them. In addition, I'm going to share some books that support play in the classroom.
Research (click each quote to link to the full resource)
Janine Hostettler Scharer article on Vygotsky and Play
Stuart Lester and Wendy Russell's Play for a Change
NAEYC article - explore and search their website as they have MANY
Additionally, the following books on Play are helpful, specifically to play in the classroom.