Play is part of childhood. Play is also part of development. Theoretical frameworks serve to provide scientific research-based support for grounded educational design and practice of play spaces is both educationally sound and developmentally appropriate. This project piloted a matrix tool in a case study to assess play spaces at an early…

How do young children decide which events can happen within fictional stories (extension) and learn new information from these stories (export)? In two studies, we investigate these two issues as well as the influence of story genre (realistic or fantastical) on these processes. Preschoolers (N = 192) heard either a realistic or fantastical story…

When we watch movies, we consider the characters' mental states in order to understand and predict the narrative. Recent work in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) uses movie-viewing paradigms to measure functional responses in brain regions recruited for such mental state reasoning (the theory of mind ["ToM"] network). Here,…

This article draws on a study of infant participation in research, and work in philosophical-empirical inquiry, to illuminate some of the inexhaustible entanglements constituting the "collective" relational landscape of educational research of particular encounters, which have been called "moments of wonder." Working with…

The impacts of high-quality early childhood education on children's health and development are legion and far-reaching. Historically, efforts to improve quality have targeted the social and curricular aspects of early childhood programs. The physical setting of schools has received less attention, despite the vast body of research over the past…

Exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) during childhood is a risk factor for poor emotional-behavioral functioning. Despite this, many children show resilience in the face of IPV exposure. The current study aimed to identify characteristics associated with positive emotional-behavioral outcomes in 4-year-old children exposed to IPV in early…

While the importance of secure relationships between children and caregivers has been well established in the literature as an essential feature of healthy child development, the influence of animal-human relationships on healthy development and attachment is also beginning to gain attention. A burgeoning literature supports the developmental and…

Gratitude is a human strength that is beneficial for psychosocial adjustment and academic adjustment. This study aimed to examine the (a) heterogeneity and gender differences in the developmental trajectories of gratitude to obtain a more nuanced understanding of the development of gratitude in children, and (b) relations between these…

The purpose of this study was to describe the daily activities of Canadian children outside of school. Participants were parents of N = 189 children (90 boys, 99 girls) in grades 1 to 3. The What Your Child Did Today parental telephone interview protocol was developed as a daily log of both the type and social context of children's activities.…

This brief describes the working paper, "Connecting the Brain to the Rest of the Body: Early Childhood Development and Lifelong Health Are Deeply Intertwined." The working paper examines examines how developing biological systems in the body interact with each other and adapt to the contexts in which a child is developing--for better or…

The family is the axis of the initial formation of the individual in the early stage of his life. The attachment and affective ties that are established through the interactions between its members and the experiences that are shared, promote meaningful learning. Through this research, the perception families have about exposing their children to…

Social-emotional development is foundational to children's health, and academic outcomes. This study examined the effect of a child-centered play therapy intervention on the social-emotional competency of a group of 5 "at risk" third graders. Participants were recruited from a Tier 1 elementary school and social-emotional competency was…

This study examined the influence of spending time outdoors on young children's physical and socioemotional development. We observed preschoolers' activities in two naturally provisioned outdoor environments over the course of one year. Eleven preschoolers were videotaped continuously for 16 days at a local river and 9 days at a creek adjacent to…

Social and emotional learning (SEL) provides a foundation for healthy development. It is the process children, youth, and adults go through to develop the skills to engage with others, manage their emotions, show empathy, handle stress, resolve stress, set goals, and make responsible decisions to succeed in work and life. School climate is a…

In this article, the authors respond to emerging articulations of the work of a pedagogist or pedagogical facilitator in early childhood education in Canada. This article is grounded in two intentions: we (1) share the tentative pedagogical conversations that we have as pedagogists who centre particular concerns, interests, and accountabilities;…