who is sitting at a small round table pounding a mound of yellow modeling dough repeatedly with a small wooden mallet.
Professional organizations for educators, as well as the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), have for some time made public position statements about the importance of play in the lives of children (Isenberg & Quisenberry, 2002). In response, high- quality programs for young children have instituted a healthy balance of child-directed and teacher-directed activities. However, differentiating between play and other activities can sometimes be tricky.
Consider, for example, the case of three-year-old Barney, who is sitting at a small round table pounding a mound of yellow modeling dough repeatedly with a small wooden mallet. Is Barney playing? Or is he practicing his fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination at the teacher’s request? Let’s observe Barney’s situation more thoroughly and see what we can determine based on some guidance from Bodrova and Leong (2003). Try asking yourself their following guiding questions.