Exploring Play: The Importance of Play in Everyday Life

This course from the School of Education at the University of Sheffield will encourage you to think differently about play.

We’ll discuss definitions of play and current debates about how the nature of play changes. Does play help us to learn? Can it prepare young people to be successful in the adult world? Are all forms of play good for us?

Play is a fundamental part of innovation and creativity across a whole range of subjects, careers, disciplines and industries, from fashion and engineering to teaching and business.

This course will be of interest to you if you wish to work or study in the fields of psychology, playwork, childhood studies, play therapy, hospital play, teaching, childcare, or if you just want to better understand your relationship with the children in your life and your own play.

Play is a fundamental part of innovation and creativity across a whole range of subjects, careers, disciplines and industries, from fashion and engineering to teaching and business.

This course will be of interest to you if you wish to work or study in the fields of psychology, playwork, childhood studies, play therapy, hospital play, teaching, childcare, or if you just want to better understand your relationship with the children in your life and your own play.

• Describe Brian Sutton-Smith’s seven rhetorics of play.
• Explore the history of toys and games.
• Identify continuity and change in play across centuries.
• Compare play activities across cultures.
• Debate the impact of modern technology on play.
• Investigate where children and teenagers play in your neighborhood.
• Discuss the provision and exclusion of play spaces in society.
• Explore the role of emotion and gender in children’s play.
• Evaluate the role of play during times of illness, trauma or accident.
• Investigate types of play in virtual worlds.
• Summarise the experiences of activists, practitioners and parents in relation to disability and play.
• Demonstrate an understanding of serious play through playful missions.
• Reflect on the relationship between play, creativity and innovation in the workplace.