Play Theory Quotes

In play, the child is always behaving beyond his age, above his usual everyday behaviour; in play he is, as it were, a head above himself. Play contains in a concentrated form, as in the focus of a magnifying glass, all developmental tendencies; it is as if the child tries to jump above his usual level.

Is a gay play a play that has sex with other plays?

Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning...They have to play with what they know to be true in order to find out more, and then they can use what they learn in new forms of play.

I believe a kid who is playing is not alone. There is something brought alive during play, and this something, when played with, seems to play back.

In play, a child is always above his average age, above his daily behavior; in play, it is as though he were a head taller than himself.

Culture arises and unfolds in and as play... culture itself bears the character of play.

It's a mistake to try to use play to deliberately foster developmental progress.

Play is a subset of voluntary behaviour involving a selective mechanism which reverses the usual contingencies of power so as to permit the subject a controllable and dialectical simulation of the moderately unmastered arousals and regulations of everyday life, in a way that is alternatively vivifying and euphoric.