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The University of Sheffield

Exploring Play: The Importance of Play in Everyday Life

The University of Sheffield via FutureLearn

Overview

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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.

Syllabus

  • 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

Taught by

Elizabeth Wood

Reviews

4.9 rating, based on 136 Class Central reviews

4.7 rating at FutureLearn based on 212 ratings

Start your review of Exploring Play: The Importance of Play in Everyday Life

  • Anonymous
    This was a really exciting, stimulating and interesting course. It covered such a lot; play for young children,play for young people, play for people with disabilities and also play for adults. There was also information about play online which I had never considered. Also the information about play for adults talked about how organisations have introduced creative play to help the mental and physical well-being of the staff and also to help them be more creative if their work. Thank you so much to all those who contributed; both staff and other learners. Mary Stirling
  • Anonymous
    I think this course is to be highly commended and recommended to anyone thinking about building a career around play. Its a great cross-sectional taster. The structure of the course is intuitive and easy to follow and the reflections and contributio…
  • Anonymous
    The Exploring Play course has been an eye-opening, thought-provoking and extremely informative course. As a teacher in a primary school but with experience and training in secondary education, I have found this extremely useful for my professional d…
  • Anonymous
    Really great course, easy to follow and topics broken down into bite-sized chunks. I have worked for many years in SEN, mostly with children with ASD, and currently in our Early Years provision. The course has made me re-think how children play and…
  • Anonymous
    I started on the course, not thinking that there were so many strands to play this course has made me realise that play is everywhere when you use your imagination! It was good to find out about the history of toys and the different material used in…
  • Anonymous
    The course covers a broad range of topics and shows how play is integral to our personal development. It also shows how it is affected by factors such as urban design, access to facilities, the application of new technology, disability and the concept of universal design. The course presenters are experts in their fields and are able to convey complex ideas with clarity. This is a course which makes you think and challenges some of your pre-conceptions about play and its role in our lives and societies.
  • Anonymous
    This course was truly amazing, even as someone with years of experience supporting disabled children and young people in a play setting it really broadened my understanding of play. It helped me to better appreciate how multidisciplinary play is, an…
  • Easter Sippel
    I enjoyed, I wish I could do it a bit quicker and involved more to make comments. I found disturbing to promote technology as a good and helpful thing but I accept the explanation and changed my mind about it. I felt a bit sad about the final test, you can do it only if you upgrade. It's fine, I understand, end of the day is a business and a good try to make money. I am not blame you. Thank you for the opportunity, all the useful information and the extra reading suggestions. It was a pleasure to be part of this course.
  • Anonymous
    A really nicely put together course, which provides a lot of thoughtful content on what 'play' is. It took me in directions that I wasn't expecting and opened my eyes to new ways of looking at types of play and the different merits of it. Some of the units appealed to me less than others, but they all had interesting elements to them and this was a fun seven weeks of learning!
  • Maha Odeh
    Very beneficial, essential, insightful and informative for every caregiver, parent or educator who works or care for children, people with special needs or any body who uses or needs to play for any reason.
  • Anonymous
    Very informative and easy to follow. Well presented and taught by people who have a passion for the subject. I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned a lot. Thank you.
  • Anonymous
    Really great course, easy to follow and topics broken down into bite-sized chunks. I have worked for many years in SEN, mostly with children with ASD, and currently in our Early Years provision. The course has made me re-think how children play and…
  • Anonymous
    I have recently completed this course and I found it to be both interesting and enjoyable.

    I learned about aspects of play which I had not previously considered. I have broadened my knowledge and understanding of play. My general concept of play as being an activity for children has developed and I now see opportunities for play throughout life.
  • Anonymous
    I really enjoyed this course, we looked deeper into play scenarios recapping on our experiences. I was really surprised by some of the details and information provided especially discovering adults still have play time. i recommend this course to anyone .
  • Anonymous
    This was a very interesting and insightful course and would be useful for anyone who has an interest in the area of play. I would recommend it to teachers, parents or any other person interested in how play influences lives.
  • Anonymous
    I found this course very interesting and informative. It gives a deeper understanding of value of play in children and young adults life. It give a background about what is play , how it evolved, what are its benefits on the healthy growth of childr…
  • Anonymous
    Kudos to the curriculum designers, instructors, researchers, academicians and volunteers for structuring and offering this comprehensive course on the nuances of 'play' - its origin, theories, forms, types, scope, etc. It broadened my perspective on…
  • Anonymous
    Really enjoyed this Play course. It was interesting and I feel I will take alot of new ideas with me. The videos where knowledgeable and the team where a great help. I feel I learned new aspects relating to play and will be putting these new activ…
  • Anonymous
    The course was wide ranging in research and very relevant. I particularly enjoyed and learned a great deal from the section on disability and play. The audio/video sections were very well presented and were not overwelming or onourous in length gi…
  • Anonymous
    This course is really well put together, with engaging videos, informative articles and helpful discussion. I choose not to pay a subscription so it was completely free, although I don't get a certificate at the end. The course covers a wide variety…
  • Anonymous
    I highly recommend! This course has helped me to see the complex nature of play and how it is not confined to childhood - and to become more playful myself. It explores a wide range of play types, barriers and theories through various articles, videos and discussions. It is evident a lot of thought and hard work has gone into making topics relevant and engaging. :)

    I would say it took me longer than the advertised 3 hours per week but you have to the freedom to interact with it as you choose. This was my first foray into an online course and has helped me gain confidence; I never contributed in uni tutorials but have loved joining in with discussions and expressing myself through writing.

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