Fostering young children's creativity is a desired outcome of STEM learning experiences. Such experiences often incorporate hands-on activities that encourage agency, curiosity, and experimentation. While educators generally have a good understanding of how to nurture creativity within a physical learning environment, less is known about…

This research focuses on exploring teacher motivational scaffolding and preschoolers motivational triggers in a playful learning project conducted in a Finnish preschool context. The aim of playful learning was to promote preschoolers' multiliteracy and digital skills in a news-making project. The participants were 17 preschoolers and their…

Caregivers play an outsized role in shaping early life experiences and development, but we often lack mechanistic insight into "how" exactly caregiver behavior scaffolds the neurodevelopment of specific learning processes. Here, we capitalized on the fact that caregivers differ in how predictable their behavior is to ask if infants'…

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the student's experiences of social and emotional learning in a community-based youth soccer program grounded in the hybridization of the teaching personal and social responsibility model and the cooperative learning model. Methods: This research was guided by a case study design. Qualitative data were…

Spatial ability is a significant component of mathematical ability and a foundation for children to master mathematical knowledge. Although many studies have confirmed that technology can enhance children's learning, few have explored the use of technology in the area of children's spatial learning. In this study, we adopted a paradigm for…

Background: Children in foster care are at high risk of future mental health and developmental difficulties. A number of interventions may be helpful; however, the effectiveness of interventions specifically for pre-school children in foster care is not well established. This is an important omission, since infancy and early childhood may be the…

Humans' participation positively impacts society and individuals, suggesting that children's participation in activities carried out in supportive environments promotes positive health and the development of key capacities. COVID-19 abruptly changed the daily lives of children and their caregivers due to the general duty of home confinement with…

The present study sought to determine how and where pedagogical decisions are made, as well as how such pedagogical decisions construct pedagogy, in the early childhood education context. The data was collected through interviews conducted with 46 early childhood education professionals, both teachers and practical nurses. The questions focused on…

The ability to adjust movements in response to perturbations is key for an efficient and mature nervous system, which relies on two complementary mechanisms -- feedforward adaptation and feedback control. We examined the developmental trajectory of how children employ these two mechanisms using a previously validated visuomotor rotation task,…

This report offers 11 indicators and elements of high quality inclusion in the early care and education environment including: (1) physical environment; (2) children's autonomy and child-centered approaches; (3) family partnerships; (4) social emotional learning and development; (5) meaningful interactions with peers; (6) curriculum; (7)…

Access to playful experiences outdoors is critical for children's learning and development. With a significant amount of young children attending early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings (OECD, OECD Publishing, 2023), these programs have an important role in furthering children's equitable access to outdoor play. As part of a larger…

Learning takes time: Performance usually starts poorly and improves with practice. Do children intuit this basic phenomenon of skill learning? In preregistered Experiment 1 (n = 125; 54% female; 48% White; collected 2022-2023), US 7- to 8-year-old children predicted improved performance, 5- to 6-year-old children predicted flat performance, and…

Grounded in the bioecological model of human development and attachment theory, this study examined whether the proportion of time children spend in activity settings in the kindergarten classroom moderated the relationship between teacher-child relationship quality and children's kindergarten academic and social-emotional outcomes. Participants…

In recent years, and within the scope of moving towards more inclusive and democratic classrooms, some scholars have proposed developing approaches to Music Education that depart from sound and sounding phenomena as larger categories that might incorporate the diverse trajectories and life experiences of children. In accordance with this initial…

Enhancing executive function in children and adolescents can have significant positive impact on their current and future daily lives. Upregulation of executive function associated with motor skill acquisition suggests that motor learning scenarios provide valuable developmental opportunities to optimize executive function. The present systematic…