Aim/Purpose: This study explores the effectiveness of a virtual reality (VR) application designed to teach Theory of Mind (ToM) skills to children aged 5-6, addressing the gap in research on the use of VR for typically developing children. Background: ToM is a critical skill for social interaction and understanding others' perspectives. Despite…

Early childhood education (ECE) is vital for children's development, especially from birth to age five. Yet, there remains significant variation in teachers' qualifications across different settings and countries. While previous research suggests that teachers' qualifications may influence children's development outcomes in early childhood…

Adverse experiences in early childhood may directly and indirectly impact children's development, including their preparedness to learn in their preschool and kindergarten classes. However, like many other developmental processes, these skills can be supported through positive experiences and resources in a child's environment. This work uses the…

The transition from early childhood education to primary education is, in many countries, the beginning of compulsory education. This has meant that much of the research on this transition has focused on academic aspects such as literacy or logical-mathematical competence. The lines of research have changed, and in recent years, very diverse…

Gender differences in early childhood development are under-researched in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where almost 90% of the world's young children live. This study examines the direction, magnitude, and variation of gender similarities and differences in 3- and 4-year-olds' early childhood development in 71 low- and middle-income…

Object exploration is considered a driver of motor, cognitive, and social development. However, little is known about how early childhood education and care settings facilitate object exploration. This study examined if children's exploration of objects during free play was facilitated by the use of particular spatial components (floor, tables,…

Mapping skills between different codes to represent numerical information, such as number symbols (i.e., verbal number words and written digits) and non-symbolic quantities, are important in the development of the concept of number. The aim of the current study is to investigate children's mapping skills by incorporating another numerical code…

This paper follows an earlier report of young children's object play activities investigated in a cross-sectional sample of 289 typically developing children. Thirty-minute videotaped observations were taken of children at 8, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 42, 48, 54, and 60 months of age in their homes. Forty-nine percent were boys. Children were identified…

Parental emotion socialization is crucial to children's development, yet emotion-focused parenting programs are scarce in non-Western contexts. In this study, we developed a four-week emotion-focused parenting program based on the principles of emotion coaching for Chinese families with preschool-aged children. This program integrated parent group…

Executive functions (EF) are crucial to regulating learning and are predictors of emerging mathematics. However, interventions that leverage EF to improve mathematics remain poorly understood. 193 four-year-olds (mean age = 3 years; 11 months pre-intervention; 111 female, 69% White) were assessed 5 months apart, with 103 children randomised to an…

Motivation is a key factor for child development, but very few studies have examined child and family predictors of both child task and perceived motivation. Thus, the three aims of this 6-month longitudinal study in preschoolers with global developmental delays (GDD) were to explore: 1) differences between task and perceived motivation in…

Motor skills develop rapidly during early childhood and are considered important for optimal child development. However, little is known about the relationship of motor skills with indicators of cognitive and socio-emotional development in typically developing preschoolers. In view of this, the present study examined the association of gross motor…

Autistic individuals often exhibit motor atypicalities, which may relate to difficulties in social communication. This study utilized a smart tablet activity to computationally characterize motor control by testing adherence to the two-thirds power law (2/3 PL), which captures a systematic covariation between velocity and curvature in motor…

The Montessori philosophy and environment offers opportunities for free movement within the classroom. Physical development includes the acquisition of fundamental movement skills (FMS) which children acquire through different opportunities for movement. Previous research has shown that Montessorian pre-schoolers were more physically active during…

This study examines the impact of an auditory integration-based developmental support programme on the sensory development and self-regulation skills of children with autism aged three to five years in Turkey. This mixed-methodology research combined quantitative and qualitative methods, and data were collected using a general information form,…