The leading text in the field, Play at the Center of the Curriculum seamlessly combines the features of a text on play and development with the features of an early childhood curriculum text to present a comprehensive, cogent rationale for placing play at the center of a balanced curriculum. Ideal for those who want to engage children in a developmental zone where children and teachers are learning from and with each other, the authors put play at the center of a balanced curriculum that includes spontaneous, guided, and directed play as well as teacher planned instruction. They describe how knowledgeable teachers use a wide repertoire of strategies to orchestrate the flow from spontaneous play to guided play, to more subject oriented instruction, and back to play. This thoroughly updated Sixth Edition interweaves anecdotes of children’s play, theories of play and development, empirical evidence from research, and practical instructional strategies to give students a clear look at play and the curriculum.