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Brian Sutton-Smith is a play theorist whose interdisciplinary approach has included research into play history and cross cultural studies of play, as well as research in psychology, education, and folklore. He has maintained that the interpretation of play must involve all of its forms, from child's play to gambling, sports, festivals, imagination, and nonsense.

Biography

Brian Sutton-Smith was born in Wellington, New Zealand in 1924. He trained as a teacher, completed a BA and MA, and was then awarded the first Education PhD in New Zealand in 1954. Following the completion of his PhD, Sutton-Smith travelled to the USA on grant from the Fulbright Program, where he began an academic career with a focus on children's games, adult games, children's play, children's drama, films and narratives, as well as children's gender issues and sibling position.

Dr. Sutton-Smith is the author of some 50 books, the most recent of which is The Ambiguity of Play (1997, Harvard University Press), and some 350 scholarly articles. He has been the President of The Anthropological Association for the Study of Play and of the American Psychological Association, Division 10 Psychology and the Arts. As a founder of the Children's Folklore Society he has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Folklore Society. For his research in toys he has received awards from the Brio and Lego toy companies of Sweden and Denmark. He has participated in making television programs on toys and play in Great Britain, Canada, and the USA, and has been a consultant for Captain Kangaroo, Nickelodeon, Murdoch Children's Television, and the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia.

His academic life consisted of 10 years at Bowling Green State University, Ohio, 10 years at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York, and 17 years at the University of Pennsylvania. He is now retired and lives in Sarasota, Florida.

Key Works

The Sibling (1970)
The Study of Games (1971)
Child's Play (1971)
The Folkgames of Children (1972)
Play and Learning (1979)
The Folkstories of Children (1981)
A History of Children's Play (1981)
Toys and Culture (1986)
Play and Intervention (1994)
Children's Folklore Source Book (1995)
The Ambiguity of Play (1997)

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 == Biography ==
 [[image:BrianSuttonSmith.jpg|thumb|300px|Brian Sutton-Smith in the 70's]]
-Brian Sutton-Smith was born in [[Wellington]], [[New Zealand]] in 1924. He trained as a teacher, completed a BA and MA, and was then awarded the first Education PhD in [[New Zealand]] in 1954. Following the completion of his PhD, Sutton-Smith travelled to the USA on a Fulbright Scholarship, where he began an academic career with a focus on children's games, adult games, children's play, children's drama, films and narratives, as well as children's gender issues and sibling position.
+Brian Sutton-Smith was born in [[Wellington]], [[New Zealand]] in 1924. He trained as a teacher, completed a BA and MA, and was then awarded the first Education PhD in [[New Zealand]] in 1954. Following the completion of his PhD, Sutton-Smith travelled to the USA on grant from the [[Fulbright Program]], where he began an academic career with a focus on children's games, adult games, children's play, children's drama, films and narratives, as well as children's gender issues and sibling position.
 Dr. Sutton-Smith is the author of some 50 books, the most recent of which is '''The Ambiguity of Play''' (1997, Harvard University Press), and some 350 scholarly articles. He has been the President of The Anthropological Association for the Study of Play and of the American Psychological Association, Division 10 Psychology and the Arts. As a founder of the Children's Folklore Society he has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Folklore Society. For his research in toys he has received awards from the Brio and Lego toy companies of Sweden and Denmark. He has participated in making television programs on toys and play in Great Britain, Canada, and the USA, and has been a consultant for [[Captain Kangaroo]], [[Nickelodeon]], Murdoch Children's Television, and the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia.