Playful Learning and Raising Successful Children in the Twenty-First Century - An Interview with Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Dipper

Playful Learning and Raising Successful Children in the Twenty-First Century presents an interview exploring why child-led play supports meaningful social and emotional growth. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff describe their own childhood play, emphasizing independence, physical activity, and self-management through outdoor freedom. They connect these experiences to research on early language, literacy, and the benefits of play for preschoolers’ learning, offering a science-informed perspective on how children truly learn.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLifestyle

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time31 min

AccessFree to download

Interview Overview

Leadership in Child-Led Play

Research Connections and Learning Benefits

Childhood Memories and Independence

Playful Learning and Raising Successful Children in the Twenty-First Century An Interview with Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff Kathy Hirsh-Pasek is the Stanley and Debra Lefkowitz Faculty Fellow in the Department of Psychology at Temple University and a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. She is the past president of the International Society for Infant Studies, served as the Associate Editor of Child Development and is on the governing counsel of the Society for Research in Child Development. In 2021 she was elected as a member of the National Academy of Education. She is on the advisory board for Nickelodeon, Vroom, the Boston Children’s Museum, Disney Junior, and Jumpstart. Her research examines the development of early language and literacy as well as the role of play in learning. Roberta Michnick Golinkoff is the Unidel H. Rodney Sharp Chair and professor in the School of Education at the University of Delaware. She also holds joint appointments in the Departments of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Linguistics and Cognitive Science. She founded and is the director of the Child’s Play, Learning, and Development Lab at the University of Delaware. Golinkoff is the Treasurer of the International Congress on Infant Studies and was an Associate Editor of Child Development. She consults for numerous organizations (e.g., Jumpstart, the Delaware Children’s Museums, and CHOICES for deaf children) and federal agencies. Her research focuses on language development, the benefits of play, and preschoolers’ early spatial knowledge. In 2021 she was elected as a member of the National Academy of Education. As long-time collaborators, Hirsh-Pasek and Golinkoff have authored fourteen books, including How Babies Talk: The Magic and Mystery of Language in the First Three Years, Einstein Never Used Flash Cards: How Our Children Really Learn—and Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less, and Becoming Brilliant: What Science Tells Us about Raising Successful Children. Keywords: 6 Cs; Learning Science Exchange (LSX); Playful Learning Landscapes; Quick Interactive Language Screener (QUILS) American Journal of Play: In your work, you champion child-led play experiences as necessary for meaningful social and emotional development. 1 American Journal of Play, volume 13, number 1 © The Strong [Contact Kathy Hirsh-Pasek at kathryn.hirsh-pasek@temple.edu](Contact Kathy Hirsh-Pasek at kathryn.hirsh-pasek@temple.edu) Looking back at your own childhoods, can you share some of the memorable play experiences in which you took the lead? Roberta Michnick Golinkoff: I grew up in New York City, Brooklyn actually, and I had no supervision once I reached a certain age. I lived in a six-story apartment building surrounded by other apartment buildings a block from Brighton Beach. Between the two buildings on my block and the two buildings behind me on the next block, there was a concrete backyard with a stoop in the middle where the moms would sit with their baby carriages. We played handball (where you bounce it first), regular handball, hopscotch, and hide-and-seek (in the basements with the utilities), and no one would supervise us! We played for hours until my mother would go to the window and yell my name. I would go in for lunch, and then I would go back out. I had a totally fun childhood where I played and played physically all the time. I loved it. My children grew up here in Wilmington, Delaware, with grass and trees. When I took them to see my backyard in Brooklyn, they were like“What?” They could not relate to a backyard that was totally concrete. My own kids also had a lot of freedom once I could count on them to cross streets appropriately. They had bikes, they had friends around the corner or across the street. I thought it was wonderful for them. The whole thing is to increase the amount of independence your child gets—little by little—as they equip themselves and show good judgment. Now I say this

FAQs

How do Hirsh-Pasek and Golinkoff describe the role of child-led play in development?

They emphasize that child-led play is necessary for meaningful social and emotional development and supports independence as children learn judgment step by step.

What childhood experiences do Golinkoff and Hirsh-Pasek recall that shaped their views on play?

Golinkoff describes unsupervised physical play like handball, hopscotch, and hide-and-seek, while Hirsh-Pasek recalls outdoor play with leaves and snow and hands-on experiments like making blue pancakes.

What areas of learning does their research focus on?

Their research examines early language and literacy development, the benefits of play, and preschoolers’ early spatial knowledge.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Dipper