We don’t play with guns here: War, Weapon and Superhero Play in the Early Years (Debating Play)

Book Description:

War, weapon and superhero play, which, for the past 30 years, has been banned in the majority of early childhood settings in England, is the subject of much debate in the early childhood community. This book explores the development and application of a zero tolerance approach through the eyes of children and practitioners. The author challenges the key rationale for this policy, which links aggressive play themes to violent behaviour. By exploring the generally positive experiences of children and practitioners in a group of early years settings where, with sensitive adult guidance, children are now allowed to construct weapons and enact goodies/baddies and superhero scenarios this book offers an alternative reading of this form of play. We are invited to view it as an entry point to imaginative play and social development for those children who might be marginalized by a prohibitive approach, rather than the beginning of the slippery slope towards anti-social behaviour.