Play in Childhood

Margaret Lowenfeld was one of the great pioneers in the discovery of childhood - the discovery was itself an outstanding human and scientific event of the twentieth century - and part of the whole intellectual adventure of seeking ways to explore children's thinking and feeling. Margaret Mead, world renowned anthropologist and author of Coming of Age in Samoa ----- Play in Childhood is a seminal book that continues to exert a strong influence on how play is viewed today. Play is described by Lowenfeld as 'an essential function of childhood basically concerned with the adaptive process; related to that process which must continue throughout life and which profoundly affects man's ability to survive....' ...In the conclusion of the book, Lowenfeld stated unequivocally that 'without adequate opportunity for play, normal and satisfactory emotional development is not possible'. ...Honoring play as a healing modality was one of Lowenfeld's original contributions. Even though play was being used by child therapists when this book was written, play in and of itself was not recognised as therapeutic and healing.... Some therapists even viewed it as a defence mechanism. Play in Childhood paved the way for an expanded view of the child's most natural impulse. From Rie Rogers Mitchell and Harriet S. Friedman, Sandplay: Past, Present and Future