Virtually every child, the world over, plays. The drive to play is so intense that children will do so in any circumstances, for instance when they have no real toys, or when parents do not actively encourage the behavior. In the eyes of a young child, running, pretending, and building are fun. Researchers and educators know that these playful activities benefit the development of the whole child across social, cognitive, physical, and emotional domains. Indeed, play is such an instrumental component to healthy child development that the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights (1989) recognized play as a fundamental right of every child.

事实上，世界上的每个孩子都会玩游戏。孩子对游戏的欲望是如此强烈，以至于他们会在任何情况下都去玩，例如当他们没有真正的玩具，或者当父母不积极鼓励这种行为时。在小孩子的眼中，跑来跑去、扮演角色和搭建积木是很有趣的。研究人员和教育工作者都知道，这些有趣的活动有益于孩子在社交、认知、身体和情感领域的整体发展。的确，游戏是儿童健康发展的重要组成部分，因此联合国人权事务高级委员会于1989年承认游戏是每个儿童的一项基本权利。

Yet, while experts continue to expound a powerful argument for the importance of play in children's lives, the actual time children spend playing continues to decrease. Today, children play eight hours less each week than their counterparts did two decades ago (Elkind 2008). Under pressure of rising academic standards, play is being replaced by test preparation in kindergartens and grade schools, and parents who aim to give their preschoolers a leg up are led to believe that flashcards and educational 'toys' are the path to success. Our society has created a false dichotomy between play and learning.

然而，尽管专家们就游戏在儿童生活中的重要性展开有力地论证，但儿童实际玩游戏的时间却在持续减少。如今，孩子们每周的玩要时间比20年前少8个小时(埃尔金德 2008)。在不断提高的学术标准的压力下，游戏正被幼儿园和小学的备考活动所取代，而那些旨在帮助学龄前儿童提高的家长们被引导去相信抽认卡和具有教育意义的“玩具“才是通往成功的道路。我们的社会在游戏和学习之间造成了一种错误的对立关系。

Through play, children learn to regulate their behavior, lay the foundations for later learning in science and mathematics, figure out the complex negotiations of social relationships, build a repertoire of creative problem-solving skills, and so much more. There is also an important role for adults in guiding children through playful learning opportunities.

通过游戏，孩子们可以学习如何规范自己的行为，为以后学习科学和数学打下基础，可以学着处理协调复杂的社会关系，还可以培养创造性解决问题的技能等等。通过娱乐型的学习机会，成年人在引导孩子的过程中扮演着重要的角色。

Full consensus on a formal definition of play continues to elude the researchers and theorists who study it. Definitions range from discrete descriptions of various types of play such as physical, construction, language, or symbolic play (Miller & Almon 2009), to lists of broad criteria, based on observations and attitudes, that are meant to capture the essence of all play behaviors (e.g. Rubin et al. 1983).

对于游戏的正式定义，研究人员和理论家一直未能达成一致意见。定义范围从对各种类型游戏的独立描述，如体格检查、结构、语言或符号游戏(米勒和阿尔蒙 2009)，到基于观察和态度的一系列宽泛标准，旨在捕捉所有游戏行为本质(例:转引自鲁宾)。

A majority of the contemporary definitions of play focus on several key criteria. The founder of the National Institute for Play, Stuart Brown, has described play as 'anything that spontaneously is done for its own sake'. More specifically, he says it 'appears purposeless, produces pleasure and joy, [and] leads one to the next stage of mastery' (as quoted in Tippett 2008). Similarly, Miller and Almon (2009) say that play includes 'activities that are freely chosen and directed by children and arise from intrinsic motivation'. Often, play is defined along a continuum as more or less playful using the following set of behavioral and dispositional criteria (e.g. Rubin et al. 1983).

当前大多数对游戏的定义都集中在几个关键的标准上。美国国家游戏研究所的创始人斯图尔特·布朗曾将游戏描述为“只为其本身考虑的、自发进行的行为”。他说，更具体地来讲，“它似乎不掺杂任何目的，且能带来愉快和喜悦，(并)会引导一个人进入下一个掌握能力的阶段“(引用自蒂皮特 2008)。同样，米勒和阿尔蒙(2009)说，游戏包括“孩子们自由选择和进行的活动，这些活动源自内在动机”。通常，游戏被定义为一个连续体，或多或少使用以下行为和意象的标准(例 转引自鲁宾 1983年)。

Play is pleasurable: Children must enjoy the activity or it is not play. It is intrinsically motivated: Children engage in play simply for the satisfaction the behavior itself brings. It has no extrinsically motivated function or goal. Play is process oriented: When children play, the means are more important than the ends. It is freely chosen, spontaneous and voluntary. If a child is pressured, they will likely not think of the activity as play. Play is actively engaged: Players must be physically and/or mentally involved in the activity. Play is non-literal. It involves make-believe.

游戏是令人愉快的: 孩子们一定会享受这项活动，否则那就不是游戏了。游戏出于一种内在的动机: 孩子们参与游戏只是为了该行为本身带来的满足感。它没有外在动机的功能或目标。游戏是过程导向的:当孩子玩游戏时，过程比结果更重要。它是自由选择的，自发的且自愿的行为。如果孩子感受到压力，他们就很有可能不会认为这是游戏。孩子们积极参与游戏: 玩家必须在身体上和/或精神上参与活动。游戏不是在存在的，它需要想象力。

According to this view, children's playful behaviors can range in degree from 0% to 100% playful. Rubin and colleagues did not assign greater weight to any one dimension in determining playfulness; however, other researchers have suggested that process orientation and a lack of obvious functional purpose may be the most important aspects of play (e.g. Pellegrini 2009).

根据这一观点，儿童爱玩的行为程度从0%到100%不等。鲁宾和他的同事们并没有给予任何一个维度更大的权重来决定游戏的乐趣;然而，其他研究人员认为过程导向和缺乏明显的实用目的可能是游戏最重要的方面(例 佩莱格里 2009)。

From the perspective of a continuum, play can thus blend with other motives and attitudes that are less playful, such as work. Unlike play, work is typically not viewed as enjoyable and it is extrinsically motivated (i.e. it is goal oriented). Researcher Joan Goodman (1994) suggested that hybrid forms of work and play are not a detriment to learning; rather, they can provide optimal contexts for learning. For example, a child may be engaged in a difficult, goal-directed activity set up by their teacher, but they may still be actively engaged and intrinsically motivated. At this mid-point between play and work, the child's motivation, coupled with guidance from an adult, can create robust opportunities for playful learning.

从连续体的角度来看，游戏可以与其他不那么有趣的动机和态度混合，比如工作。与玩要不同，人们通常不认为工作是令人愉快的，因为工作是由外在动机驱动的(例如，它是以目标为导向的)。研究人员琼·古德曼(1994)提出，学习和娱乐的混合模式并不会降低学习质量;相反，它们可以提供最佳的学习环境。例如，一个孩子可能正陷于一个由老师设定的高难度的目标导向的活动，但是他们仍然可以积极参与且具有内在动机。在娱乐和学习之间的这个中间点就是孩子的动机，再加上来自成年人的指导，可以为具有有乐趣的学习创造良好的条件。

Critically, recent research supports the idea that adults can facilitate children's learning while maintaining a playful approach in interactions known as 'guided play' (Fisher et al. 2011). The adult's role in play varies as a function of their educational goals and the child's developmental level (Hirsch-Pasek et al. 2009).

重要的是，最近的研究支持这样一种观点，即成年人可以促进儿童的学习，同时在互动中保持一种有趣的方式，这被称为“指导游戏“(转引自费希尔 2011)。成人在游戏中扮演的角色随着他们的教育目标和孩子的发展而变化。

Guided play takes two forms. At a very basic level, adults can enrich the child's environment by providing objects or experiences that promote aspects of a curriculum. In the more direct form of guided play, parents or other adults can support children's play by joining in the fun as a co-player, raising thoughtful questions, commenting on children's discoveries, or encouraging further exploration or new facets to the child's activity. Although playful learning can be somewhat structured, it must also be child-centered (Nicolopolou et al. 2006). Play should stem from the child's own desire.

指导游戏有两种形式。在非常基础的引导下，成人可以通过提供促进课程各方面的对象或经验来丰富儿童的周边环境。在更直接的引导下，家长或其他成年人可以加入到孩子的游戏中，作为一个合作者，提出值得思考的问题，评论孩子的发现，或鼓励孩子进一步地探索和发现活动的新内涵。虽然有乐趣的学习可以在一定程度上结构化，但它也必须是以儿童为中心的(Nicolopolou et al.2006)。游戏应该源于孩子自己的欲望。

Both free and guided play are essential elements in a child-centered approach to playful learning. Intrinsically motivated free play provides the child with true autonomy, while guided play is an avenue through which parents and educators can provide more targeted learning experiences. In either case, play should be actively engaged, it should be predominantly child-directed, and it must be fun.

自由的游戏和引导性的游戏都是以儿童为中心的学习方法的基本要素。内在动机自由的游戏为孩子提供了真正的自主，而引导性游戏是父母和教育工作者提供更有针对性的学习体验的途径。不管是哪一种，应该让孩子积极参与到游戏中来，游戏应该是主要由儿童主导的，且一定要有趣。