Mister Rogers' Play Time: Encourage Your Child to Create, Explore and Pretend with Dozens of Easy-To-Do Activities

Arts & Activities, May, 2004 by Jerome J. Hausman

MISTER ROGERS' PLAY TIME: Encourage Your Child to Create, Explore and Pretend with Dozens of Easy-to-do Activities (2001; $12.95), by Fred Rogers. Running Press, 125 South 22nd St., Philadelphia, PA 19103-4399.

Art-education scholars may not take Mr. Rogers very seriously. Yet, without question, his name and what he had to say are far more influential than any "serious writer" in our field. His book "Play Time" will doubtless be read by many. What he wrote in his introductory sections is very valuable: "Child's play is one of the most misleading phrases in our language. People often use it to suggest something trivial, but a child's play is not trivial--not by any means. When children play, they are working. They're working on learning about themselves, about other people, and about the world around them."

The sections that follow are deserving of our approval: sharing and caring, pretend play, helping, making play things, feelings, encouraging self-expression, nature and science, and so on. The specific activities that are described: fishing for words, mirror images, cape play, an imaginary land, puppet play, paper mobiles, etc., do not offer very much that is insightful for art teachers; but these activities can be of help to classroom teachers. This is a book that can be useful at the primary level. It sets the right tone for young children, and it's practical. With the help of an art teacher, the activities can be expanded and enriched to meet the spirit that underlies what he had to say. For information about this publication, circle No. 390 on the Reader Service Card.