Heroes, villains and saving the day! Magic Capes, Amazing Powers explores why children are so strongly attracted to superhero and weapons play, and addresses the resulting concerns of parents and teachers. Unique in its approach to this wildly popular type of play, Magic Capes describes how teachers can use redirection, story-telling, dramatic play materials, anti-bias curriculum and clear limit-setting to guide superhero play in a positive direction that allows children to play and satisfies the concerns of adults.

Eric Hoffman is the program coordinator for the Cabrillo College Children’s Center in Aptos, CA. He has worked with preschool-age children since 1970 and cofounded the CRADLE Project, which assists teachers and parents who do conflict resolution with children.