The excellence of play gathers together authoritative contributors to proceed a wide-ranging and key source text reflecting both up-to-date research and current classroom practice. It tackles how we conceptualize play, how we 'place' it in the classroom, how we relate it to the curriculum and how we evaluate its role in learning in the early years. The Culture of Play and Childhood, Play and the Uses of Play, Play in Different Cultures and Different Childhoods, Sex - Differentiated Play Experiences and Children's Choices, Play the Playground and the Culture of Childhood, Play Schooling and Responsibilities, Play and Legislated Curriculum. Back to Basics: an Alternative View, Play is Ace! Developing Play in Schools and Classrooms, Contents, Making Play Work in the Classroom, Play and the Early Years Curriculum, Experimental Learning in Play and Art, Bulbs, Buzzers and Batteries - Play and Science, Assessing and Evaluating Play, Observing Play in Early Childhood, Afterword, References.