This resource examines the natural connection between play and a young child's development and learning. The authors advocate that play should be at the heart of the early childhood curriculum and then demonstrate how to draw both the methods and the content of a successful curriculum from children's spontaneous play. Anecdotes of children's play, theories of play and development, and instructional strategies are interwoven throughout the book. This book takes a unique position, asking not only, “How can play support curriculum?” but also “How can curriculum support play?”