Feb
26th
Tue
26th
But during the second half of the 20th century, Chudacoff argues, play changed radically. Instead of spending their time in autonomous shifting make-believe, children were supplied with ever more specific toys for play and predetermined scripts. Essentially, instead of playing pirate with a tree branch they played Star Wars with a toy light saber. Chudacoff calls this the commercialization and co-optation of child’s play — a trend which begins to shrink the size of children’s imaginative space.
— Alix Spiegel. “Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills.” Morning Edition [NPR News] 21 February 2008.
