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.

• Definitions of play
• Welcome to the course
• Definitions of play
• Play across the lifespan
• Play across cultures
• Quiz and a look forward to next week
• Additional activity
• Histories of play
• Introduction to Week 2
• History of play
• Continuities and discontinuities in play
• Modern technology and play
• Quiz and a look forward to next week
• Children, environments and emotions
• Introduction to Week 3
• Where do children play?
• Outdoor environments
• Emotional experiences of play
• Trauma and play
• Quiz and a look forward to next week
• Teenagers, adults and play
• Introduction to Week 4
• Understanding teenagers' play
• Skating the city
• Serious play and curiosity
• Play across generations
• Quiz and a look forward to next week
• The relationship between virtual play and the outside world
• Which world do we live in? Exploring play in the virtual world
• Experiencing play in virtual worlds
• The virtual social world
• Education and disability issues in Second Life
• Reflecting on virtual play
• Playing with information
• Quiz and a look forward to next week
• Disability and play
• Introduction to Week 6
• Play and disability in practice
• Research stories
• Disability and being human
• A look forward to next week
• Reflections on play
• Introduction to Week 7
• Play in everyday life
• Reviewing your thoughts on play and the course
• Farewell, thanks and end of course assessment