et's theories on child development, especially the importance of play, can be seen in almost all portions of the curriculum. According to Piaget, children gain in knowledge in two ways: assimilation, and accommodation (Saracho n.p.). In the process of assimilation, children take in information from their experiences in the external world which is real. They integrate this new information into their existing mental structures. When the child's existing mental structures are unable or inadequate to absorb and incorporate this new information the child must change or accommodate his mental structures to accept the information that is inconsistent with reality as the child previously perceived reality. This dichotomy of expected verses actuality is also known as "cognitive dissonance." This period of cognitive dissonance represents one of the powerful conditions for learning (Mann n.p.).
Piaget believed that play was vital for a child to develop cognitively. The Creative Curriculum is based on the idea that children learn most effectively when allowe
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