Using Schema Play Theory to Advocate for Free Play in Early Childhood Paperback – November 21, 2025

The host of the internationally popular early childhood podcast “That Early Childhood Nerd” provides a framework for understanding the importance of free play.Free play is disappearing from the lives of too many young children, leaving them vulnerable to negative effects on their physical and mental health, social and emotional growth, and academic development. Heather Bernt-Santy makes a powerful, research-based case for taking children’s right to play seriously. She helps readers understand and resist the pressures and cultural influences that set up barriers to free play. Early care and education practitioners will learn how to see, support, and interpret play to those who are skeptical or unsure of play’s benefits. Each chapter includes a scenario that offers readers the opportunity to closely observe children’s play through the lens of Chris Athey’s schema play theory. This framework will help educators advocate for play by identifying its contributions to children’s overall development.Book Features:Introduces Chris Athey’s theory of schema play and explores eight play schemas, including relevant research and child play scenarios.Offers guidance for explaining the importance of play to a variety of stakeholders, including colleagues, families, program administrators, and policymakers.Provides a framework to help educators identify learning in children’s play and to extend the learning they see with young children (from birth to 5 years old).Explores how free play supports school readiness, brain development, social-emotional development, literacy development, and math and science learning. Read more