Big Body Play

"We love big body play in our program! It allows children to gain an understanding of their spatial boundaries, test their physical limits, and explore risk within a safe environment. We’ve seen our students gain tremendous self-confidence and self-control through big body play." —Mary Shallenberger, prekindergarten teacher "In her ever-clear style, Carlson covers topics from safety considerations, to teaching children to read body language and recognize limits, to communicating with families about the educational and overall human benefits of very vigorous play. Frances Carlson has once again written The Book." —Dan Gartrell, author of A Guidance Approach for the Encouraging Classroom "Everyone benefits when big body play is accepted as developmental and is supervised by knowledgeable adults. Big Body Play is a wonderful resource, a straightforward guide to assist teachers in understanding and promoting rough-and-tumble play. Such play is one of the first steps children take in development of the physical skills they will need to be physically active throughout life." —Stephen Sanders, author of Active for Life: Developmentally Appropriate Movement Programs for Young Children "[Carlson] masterfully uses scholarly research to paint a picture of what this big body play looks like . . . and to catalog the potential benefits for children of engaging in physical, active play. . . . I recommend this book wholeheartedly to my fellow early-childhood educators." — Review by Brenda Boyd, Washington State University in the American Journal of Play, Spring 2013