About this item
Highlights
- The Power in Pretend questions and sheds light on the ways children play with ideas of power.
- About the Author: Mike Huber has been an early childhood teacher since 1992 and currently teaches at Seward Child Care Center in Minneapolis.
- 152 Pages
- Education, Behavioral Management
Description
About the Book
"Ranging from princess play to gun play, The Power in Pretend questions and sheds light on the ways children play with ideas of power. The book gives practical strategies for adults in early childhood settings to support this sense of power in pretend play and in real ways"--Book Synopsis
The Power in Pretend questions and sheds light on the ways children play with ideas of power.Children's play often tells a story of power through the roles they choose to play: exercising power over, power with, or power for peers, adults, or phenomena from the wider world. Most adults are comfortable with some roles children take on, such as dinosaurs, mothers, and firefighters. Other roles or types of play make adults uncomfortable at times, such as weapon or gun play, superhero play, or hyper-feminine princess play. Yet allowing and supporting these types of play is key to fostering children's identity and agency. The book gives practical strategies for adults in early childhood settings to support this sense of power in pretend play and in real ways. It draws on an updated understanding of gender expression, as well as a nuanced approach to consent, and includes a contemporary understanding of the development of executive function skills and their impact on young children's behaviors. The book also considers cultural influences on children's play and adults' reactions, as well as how peer interactions and play may be affected by differences among children.
About the Author
Mike Huber has been an early childhood teacher since 1992 and currently teaches at Seward Child Care Center in Minneapolis. Mike has also worked as a trainer and consultant for the Minnesota Department of Education, the Child Care Resource and Referral Network, and the Minnesota Association for the Education of Young Children (MnAEYC). He is the winner of the 2012 Kate Davidson Tanner Award from MnAEYC, the Scholastic Early Childhood Professional Award Honorable Mention in 2006, and Teacher Leadership from Hamline University's Master of Arts Education Program in 2006. Mike holds a master's degree in education from Hamline University. He is the author of Inclusion Includes Us and Embracing Rough-and-Tumble Play, both from Redleaf Press, as well as several children's books. He is the co-host of the podcast Teaching with the Body in Mind and frequent guest on That Early Childhood Nerd.