These are two very interesting stories that I have referred parents to when we discuss how children learn valuable critical thinking skills through play.
NPR: Creative play makes for kids in control aired Feb 2008
lhttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=76838288
Tools of the Mind parent information page: http://www.mscd.edu/extendedcampus/toolsofthemind/parents/index.shtml
On Being: Play, Spirit, and Character - Aired July 2008. Stuart Brown, a physician and director of the National Institute of Play, says that pleasurable, purposeless activity prevents violence and promotes trust, empathy and adaptability to life’s complication. He promotes cutting-edge science on human play, and draws on a rich universe of study of intelligent social animals.
http://being.publicradio.org/programs/play/
