In this article, we demonstrate how playful learning serves to provide optimal learning opportunities through teacher-guided play. First, we describe the theoretical design principles that can be leveraged to support mathematical learning for students that have been underserved. Then, we provide concrete examples of evidence-based games that can…

Using a creative and playful fairy-tale storyboard approach this paper explores the impact of the pandemic, the move to online and blended learning, and the role academic development can have in the future of learning and teaching. We refract academic staff experiences of teaching during the pandemic through our own experiences as academic…

Because children spend so much of their time in schools, their playgrounds offer a good setting for promoting active play in young lives. Teachers, instead of considering active play a taxing demand on their busy day, have begun to develop an informal curriculum for it. The authors review the research on children's active play and explores its…

Eisner (1991) defines culture as a place for growing things. School constitutes an essential culture where students' minds can be grown and developed and where learning can be fostered. Teachers are in charge of developing and fostering young minds and because they participate in the culture called school they have many possibilities and…

Earlier observations suggested that young children's engagement with information and communication technologies (ICT) could be unproductive. Interplay: Play, Learning and ICT in Pre-school Settings set out to explore how practitioners can enhance three-year-olds' to four-year-olds' encounters with new technologies in the playroom. The study took…

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the analysis of the Early Childhood Education (ECE) curriculum in six countries involved in the UPDATE-project, and on that basis, propose a conceptual foundation for technology education in ECE that aims to enhance gender sensitive technology education in the continuum from early years to…

Role-playing in nutrition has many advantages as an educational technique, including building thoughts, facilitating flexible thinking, promoting awareness, and providing opportunities for practicing food-related behavior. The Curry and Arnaud model for role play is presented in terms of its components and how each component relates to nutrition…

Five-year-old children in two socioeconomic school settings were observed in Guatemala City. Their parents and teachers were surveyed about perceptions of learning through play. The difference between the actual classroom experience for Guatemalan kindergartners and the perceptions about what should be their experience, according to their parents…

Helps early-years educators to be sensitive to the cultures of the families by providing observations of culturally diverse children at play, the cultural contexts they bring to play activities, and the demonstration of childhood learning of cultural diversity. Theoretical observations about childhood and play are discussed. (GLR)

In establishing high quality programs for young children, it is imperative that teachers focus on individual differences, growth patterns, and learning styles while providing educational experiences that develop the physical, social, emotional and cognitive domains without regard to chronological age. Research affirms that a play-oriented approach…

The arts are central to quality early childhood programs. Experiences in the arts commonly attract and sustain children's involvement and provide opportunities for individualized creative responses. This research project investigated the implementation of arts games (structured play experiences based on drama, music, dance, and movement) into the…

To determine whether the creative-adventure playground model functions as an effective extension of the classroom, researchers at Northern Illinois University's Early Childhood Education Research Laboratory studied the effects of playground participation on the development of visual-motor integration in 32 preschool boys and girls aged 3 to 4.5.…

This report describes the development, implementation and evaluation of an Australian follow-through kindergarten year one program for children who had participated in an individualized, experience-based preschool program. Follow-through program development focused on planning a program that offered experiences compatible with those offered at…