Abstract
“Doody, doody, dop, dop, boom,” the toddler chants as she drops clothespins in a box and dumps them out again. Over and over the toddler dumps the pins and puts them back in the box only to dump them out again. Nearby, in the sand box, another toddler is aimlessly pushing a truck through the sand — back and forth, — back and forth, over and over again.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bereiter, C. (1985). Toward a solution of the learning paradox.Review of Educational Research, 55(2), 201–227.
Castle, K. (1985). Toddlers and tools.Childhood Education, 61(5), 352–356.
Christie, J. F., & Johnsen, E. P. (1983). The role of play in social-intellectual development.Review of Educational Research, 53(1), 93–117.
Chukovsky, K. (1971).From two to five. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Highberger, R., & Boyton, M. (1983). Preventing illness in infant/toddler day care.Young Children, 38 3–11.
Krasnor, K., & Pepler, D. (1980). The study of children's play: Some suggested future directions. In K. H. Rubin (Ed.)Children's play: New directions for child development (pp. 85–94). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Millar, S. (1968).The psychology of play. Baltimore: Penguin.
Smilansky, S. (1968).The effects of sociodramatic play on disadvantaged preschool children. New York.
Weir, R. (1962).Language in the crib. The Hauge: Mouton.
Additional information
Carol Seefeldt is a professor at the University of Maryland in College Park. Nita Barbour is chair of Early Childhood And Elementary Education at the University of Maryland in Baltimore County.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Seefeldt, C., Barbour, N. Functional play: A tool for toddler learning. Early Childhood Educ J 14, 6–9 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01882430
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01882430