Drawing on ethnographic accounts of children's media-referenced play, this book explores children's engagement with media cultures and playground experiences, analyzing a range of issues such as learning, fantasy, communication and identity.

1. Play, Media and Children's Playground Cultures 2. An Overview of Games and Activities on Two Primary School Playgrounds 3. Children as Researchers 4. Framing and Interpreting Children's Play 5. Reasons for Rhythm: Multimodal Perspectives on Musical Play 6. Computer Games on the Playground: Ludic Systems, Dramatized Narrative and Virtual Embodiment 7. Superheroes, Naughty Mums and Witches: Pretend Family Play amongst Seven to Ten Year-Olds 8. Agonistic Scenarios 9. Parody, Homage and Dramatic Performances 10. Conclusion: Forms, Functions and the Ethnographic Challenge

Rebekah Willett is an Assistant Professor of Library and Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. She has previously published Video Cultures: Media Technology and Everyday Creativity.

Chris Richards is a Senior Lecturer in Media Arts Education at the Institute of Education, London, UK. His most recent book is Young People, Popular Culture and Education.
 
Jackie Marsh is Professor of Education at the University of Sheffield, UK. She is co-editor of Play, Creativity and Digital Cultures.

Andrew Burn is Professor of Media Education at the Institute of Education, University of London, UK. He has previously published Making New Media: Creative Production and Digital Literacies.

Julia Bishop is a Researcher at the University of Sheffield and the University of Aberdeen, UK. Her most recent book is The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs.