To study young children is to study the theatre of early childhood, which of course is the narrative of play,’ Vivian Gussin Paley told delegates at a conference in her hometown, Chicago, in 2015, four years before she died at the age of 90. The inspirational kindergarten teacher, who authored 13 books and received numerous awards for her work in promoting the importance of listening to children’s stories, organised her classroom around storytelling.
Few resources are needed to see Paley’s magic come to life: a story table where children can dictate their own stories and a story room rug to act them out. However, storytelling is a natural extension of the fantasies that children act out when they play, and a core collection of fantasy play resources to support this form of expression is vital.
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