"Research Findings:" Although the importance of block play to children's spatial ability has been recognized globally, little is known about children's use of spatial frames of reference during spatial processing. This study investigated the intervention with guided block play to promote children's use of their intrinsic frame of…

The purpose of the present study was to investigate children's connected communication during play with a sibling and friend from early to middle childhood. Participants included 65 4-year-old focal children at time 1 (T1) and 46 7-year-old focal children at time 2 (T2) who were videotaped at home in separate semi-structured free play sessions…

"Research Findings:" Playfulness is an important personality tendency with an important role in the well-being, mental health, and various other aspects of an individual's life. Previous studies have shown that the development of children's playfulness is related to parents' playfulness. However, limited research has been conducted on…

Research Findings: While leadership is not a novel concept, child leadership is still an under-cultivated field. Despite nearly nine decades of research on play leadership in preschool children, there still remains a paucity of empirical studies examining this developmental area, especially considering that leadership in the preschool years is an…

Research Findings: Although it is well documented that toy play and book sharing shape communication between adults and children in different ways, relatively few studies have compared teacher-child interactions in the two activities. The aim of this observational study was to describe and compare the conversational functions of teachers' and…

While play-based learning is important for a high quality early education, only when teachers are confident and competent in enacting play-based learning in their everyday practice are expected benefits of play-based learning for whole-child development realized. A sample of 592 early childhood educators who assumed different job titles in Hong…

Research Findings: There is limited research regarding socio-emotional development in low-income Latino Dual Language Learner (DLL) children. A total of 14 studies have been identified in a comprehensive review of the literature (Halle et al. 2014). Within these studies the majority have focused on problem behaviors within this population. Through…

Research Findings: The goal of this study was to investigate the role of play behaviors in the links between child shyness and teacher-child relationship quality in preschool. Participants were 212 (102 girls) young children (M = 58.32 months, SD = 10.72) recruited from 10 classrooms in three preschools in central Italy. Parents evaluated…

The under-representation of women in science disciplines is a persistent problem for workplaces and educational policy. Girls may start to disengage early from science subjects, partly due to cultural stereotypes around science and gender. Early language interventions which introduce science activities in terms of action (or process) versus…

This study investigated the direct relationship between home play opportunity and prospective school readiness, and the indirect relationships as mediated through object and social mastery motivation among Hong Kong Chinese kindergarten children. Participants were 106 local children (44.4% girls, mean age = 60.0 months) and their parents and…

Research Findings: Early childhood teachers' talk is a key ingredient in children's early language and literacy development, but there has been little systematic synthesis of observational studies that examine relationships between teacher talk and child oral language. In this systematic review of 54 studies, we investigate and synthesize the…

Research Findings: There are sparse data on children's use of executive function (EF) and spatial skills in block play. However, there are important implications for studying EF and spatial skills with blocks across cultures, especially regarding best practices for supporting social-cognitive development in under-resourced populations and…

During imaginative play, children may learn foundational skills important for academic success. Indeed, imaginative children, high in fantasy orientation (FO), may have advantages in skills that support positive classroom and social behavior. Yet findings are mixed regarding the classroom behavior of children high in fantasy orientation. The…

Research Findings: This study explores the variations in paternal play beliefs and the relation to young children's developmental outcomes in a sample of 163 Chinese fathers of 3-year-olds (M = 38.73 months, SD = 4.91) in Shenzhen, China. The fathers completed the Chinese Parent Play Beliefs Scale (CPPBS) to report their attitudes towards play and…

A growing number of toddlers are attending childcare institutions as part of China's establishment of its infant-toddler childcare service system. However, there is limited empirical evidence available regarding the quality of these childcare services. The purpose of this study is to investigate the quality of teacher - child interactions in…