Pedagogy and Play in Early Childhood Education

The course examines play as a means of pre-school children’s education and development. Initially, the historic significance that was given to play in each time period is approached. Emphasis is put on the opinions of important educators (Locke, Rousseau, Froebel, etc.) that have pointed out play as a pedagogical mean. In the following, the relation that nowadays is considered to exist between play and child development mainly based on modern play theories. Simultaneously, the role that is internationally attributed to play in early childhood education programs is analyzed and ways with which play can be exploited in practice as an activity along with educational toys for the full scale advancement of children in kindergarten.