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Home triangle separator American Journal of Play triangle separator Journal Issues triangle separator Volume 15, Number 1

Volume 15, Number 1

Published 2023

Journal Issue Cover Image

Editors' Note


Welcome to the first issue of volume 15 of the American Journal of Play. We begin with an interview of the esteemed historian and girlhood studies scholar Miriam Forman-Brunell, who discusses her research on the history of dolls, play, and American girlhoods. In an article examining technological and traditional infant toys on the U.S. toy market, authors Brenna Hassinger-Das, Rebecca Schwartz, Mari Tavdgiridze, Nayrovi Mercedes, Marie Salerno, Nowou Cyrielle Talla Takoukam, Joshua Gamzehlatova, and Jennifer M. Zosh argue that it is important for developmental researchers and the public to know which toys are marketed to the care givers of infants. Siv Lund, Kirsti Riiser, and Knut Løndal investigate the outdoor physical play of Norwegian first graders in after school programs. Viewing play from the children’s perspective, their study highlights the significance of outdoor, physically active play, especially child initiation in play and playing with other children. Lars Dahl Pedersen explores the relationship of play to choreography. He argues for viewing play through a choreographic lens to help us understand how players physically communicate and create meaning through action in various play situations. The issue closes with an article by Elisa Wiik complicating the idea that to quit a game involves a simple choice. She looks at the reasons Finnish players abandon or reduce their gaming through the lens of specific demands. She concludes that using the player service model promoted by Jaakko Stenros and Olli Sotamaa in 2009 can help game developers lessen the effect of these game demands.

Interviews


Dolls, Play, and the History of American Girlhoods: An Interview with Miriam Forman-Brunell

Miriam Forman-Brunell, Emerita Professor of History, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, has long been at the forefront of girlhood studies, dolls’ studies, and the field of play. She is the author of Made to Play House: The Commercialization of Girlhood (1994, 1998) and Babysitting: An American History (2009). She edited Girlhood in America: An Encyclopedia (2001), The Girls’ History & Culture Reader: The Nineteenth Century (2011), The Girls’ History & Culture Reader: The Twentieth Century (2011), Princess Cultures: Mediating Girls’ Imaginations and Identities (2015), Dolls Studies: The Many Meanings of Girls’ Toys and Play (2015), Deconstructing Dolls: Girlhoods and the Meanings of Play (2021), and The Story of Rose O’Neill: An Autobiography (1997, 2022). She has served as guest editor for an issue of the Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth (Fall 2019) focused on the history of girlhoods and the girling of work, play, and performance and for an issue of Girlhood Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal (2012) on new research in dolls studies. Forman-Brunell codirected Children & Youth in History, an online world resource for students and teachers, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. She is currently working on Girls in America: A Narrative History of Girlhoods as well as a history of her mother’s girlhood in Nazi Germany and wartime America. Key words: babysitting; doll collectors; doll makers; doll play; dolls’ studies; girls; girlhoods; girls’ studies; princess culture; Rose O’Neill

Articles


The Transforming Toybox Examining the U.S. Infant Toy Market

Brenna Hassinger-Das, Rebecca Schwartz, Mari Tavdgiridze, Nayrovi Mercedes, Marie Salerno, Nowou Cyrielle Talla Takoukam, Joshua Gamzehlatova, Jennifer M. Zosh

The authors examined technological and traditional infant toys to understand the U.S. toy market facing today’s care givers. They found significant differences in the two types of toys in terms of their developmental targets—with more traditional toys aimed at physical development and more technological toys aimed at cognitive development. Given that the toy market is so vast and that technological toys sometimes come with considerable costs, they argue for the need to understand more precisely how toys are marketed to prevent exploitation based on the pursuit of a so-called “brainy baby.” Key words: educational toys; gender-specific toys; developmental toys; technical toys; traditional toys; toy marketing

Children’s Experiences with Outdoor, Physically Active Play in After-School Programs

Siv Lund, Kirsti Riiser, and Knut Løndal

The authors investigated the outdoor physical play of Norwegian first graders in after-school programs using a study that viewed play from the children’s perspective. The authors identified three themes of the physically active play they observed—“playing with friends,” “no one decides,” and “I can do it.” Their findings highlight the dynamic importance of such play, especially of child initiation in play and of playing with other children. The physical outdoor play fostered fun and playful interaction, leading both to improved communication and movement capabilities. The authors discuss their findings in relation to Scott Eberle’s theoretical understanding of play, findings that indicate the complex conditions that support and extend children’s play in after-school programs and the need to recognize them. Key words: after school programs; child’s perspective; physically active play; outdoor play

Playful Choreographies and Choreographies of Play: New Research in Dance and Play Studies

Lars Dahl Pedersen

The author explores the relationship of play to choreography. He defines choreography as the rules that guide body movements from their minute physicality to their broad social and cultural contours. He conducts a review of the literature and accentuates five general topics—learning through creativity; choreography as writing and pedagogy; comparisons of dance and choreography to play and sport; children’s play and environments as choreographies; and choreography as critical play interventions in public spaces. He argues that viewing play through a choreographic lens helps us understand how players physically communicate and create meaning through action in various play situations. Key words: choreography and play; participatory sense making

“I Just Can’t Commit to That Level Anymore”: Players, Demands of Games, and Player Services

Elisa Wiik

People, the author holds, instinctively believe quitting a game to be a simple choice: you are either playing or you are not. But she finds quitting play more complex. To understand better the whole ecosystem of play, she maps out the reasons Finnish players abandon or reduce their gaming and examines these reasons through the lens of specific demands. Using an online survey and interviews, she reveals that the dedication and effort needed to play—and the expected audience for a game—can drive players away from the games they once so enjoyed. She concludes that using the player service model promoted by Jaako Stenros and Olli Sotamaa in 2009 can identify the actions game designers might take to lessen the effect of these game demands. Key words: analog games; digital games; game demands; quitting game play; player services

Book Reviews


Jane Waters-Davies, ed., Introduction to Play

Bengi Süllü

Doris Bergen, ed., The Handbook of Developmentally Appropriate Toys

Mattia Thibault

Jody Rosen, Two Wheels Good: The History and Mystery of the Bicycle

Howard P. Chudacoff

Andrew Liptak, Cosplay: A History

Nicolle Lamerichs

Amanda C. Cote, Gaming Sexism: Gender and Identity in the Era of Casual Video Games

Christina Xan

Darshana Jayemanne, Performativity in Art, Literature, and Videogames

Madison Schmalzer

Contributors


Brenna Hassinger-Das is an Assistant Professor at Pace University in the Psychology Department. As director of the Science of Development Lab, her research examines care giver-child interactions in the contexts of playful learning and digital media use in home and community settings, particularly for children experiencing poverty. She has published papers in journals such as Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Developmental Psychology and Early Childhood Education Quarterly. Rebecca Schwartz is a doctoral student in School-Clinical Child Psychology at Pace University. Mari Tavdgiridze is a masters student in Psychology at Pace University. Nayrovi Mercedes is a masters student in Psychology at Pace University. Marie Salerno is a masters student in Early Childhood Special Education at Fordham University. Nowou Cyrielle Talla Takoukam is an undergraduate student in Psychology at Pace University. Joshua Gamzehlatova is a doctoral student in School-Clinical Child Psychology at Pace University. Jennifer M. Zosh is a Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Pennsylvania State University’s Brandywine campus. As the director of the Brandywine Child Development Lab, she studies how infants and young children learn about the world around them. She specializes in playful learning, the impact of technology on children, working memory, mathematical cognition, and language acquisition, and she has published articles in journals including Psychological Science in the Public Interest and Cognition.

Siv Lund is an Associate Professor at Oslo Metropolitan University, on the faculty of Education and International Studies, and her work, published in journals sych as PLOS ONE and Journal of School Health, examines children’s physical activity and play in outdoor areas at schools and child care institutions. Kirsti Riiser is an Associate Professor on the faculty of Health Sciences at Oslo Metropolitan University. Her research examines physical activity, play, and quality of life in children and adolescents. A substantial part of her research, including intervention studies, has been carried out within the school health service and is published in journals such as BMC Public Health and the Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. Knut Løndal is a professor at Oslo Metropolitan University on the faculty of Education and International Studies. His research focuses on children’s physical activity and play in outdoor areas at schools and child care institutions. His work is published in the American Journal of Play, Child Care in Practice, and Children, Youth, and Environments.

Lars Dahl Pedersen, a contemporary dancer and choreographer, holds and MA in phenomenology and philosophy of mind and is currently a Ph.D. fellow at the Danish School of Education (DPU), Aarhus University, and VIA University College in Denmark. In a national research program, Playful Learning Research Extension, he explores the role of the body and movement in play and learning through choreographic experiments in early childhood and social education.

Elisa Wiik is a doctoral researcher at the Centre of Excellence in Game Culture Studies in Tampere University. Her publications include an article about Game-Centric Transmedia in the Proceedings of the 2019 DiGRA International Conference and a coauthored article on Pokémon GO in the Journal of Game Criticism.

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