This accessible and practical book provides practitioners with a tool-kit for observing and assessing children's play through a unique Social Play Continuum, developed by the author over the course of a decade working in early years classrooms. The author also provides a framework for reflection on and the development of traditional areas of provision across the 3-7 age range, and will help the practitioner acquire an enhanced understanding of the links between intellectual development, the growth of language and the emotional well being of young children.