This study investigated the impact of a 'Jewellery Club' on girls with social, communication and interaction difficulties. The project focussed on three girls aged seven who participated in an intervention using similar principles to the 'Lego Therapy' intervention. An action research approach was followed, where two phases of the intervention…

This article explores the usefulness of detective role-play as a research method to facilitate young children's critical thinking. The study examines four specifically designed detective play experiences, adopting an ethical rights-based approach to research with children. This qualitative multiple-case study is grounded in play-based pedagogy…

Purpose: This paper offers a reflection of a research process aimed at listening to young children's voices in their everyday school life through a play-based context in a Scottish school. Throughout the research process, the complexity of conducting this research was kept in mind as listening to children's voices presents methodological and…

This article reflects on observations as a dance pedagogue, adapting Gilbert's BrainDance to a range of learning and teaching opportunities in intergenerational classroom contexts. Initially applied in an early childhood education context, BrainDance provided a point of departure into conversations and observations with teachers on how the…

Background: Few studies have investigated how heat impacts play from the perspective of children. The purpose of this study was to explore children's experiences of recess play during high temperatures. Methods: We used the draw-and-tell method to retrospectively explore the experiences of recess during hot weather among students (N = 38) between…

Children are spending significantly less time outdoors in free play than previous generations, which has implications for children's development. This study explores parental knowledge, attitudes and the time children spend in outdoor free play. Parents or caregivers of children aged between five and nine years old (N = 82) completed an online…

STEM learning in not merely a matter of training children for current jobs--the job market is likely to change radically before a current kindergartner graduates from college, as artificial intelligence, robotics, and other technologies evolve and new technologies emerge. STEM education is an integrated, cross-disciplinary approach to teaching…

In this conceptual article, we propose a new approach to investigating changeable factors in teaching. Using a constructivist approach as a conceptual framework, we argue for investigating changeable factors recognizing their malleability and suggest studying teaching as a set of natural experiments. Methodologically, we propose an abductive…

Spontaneous imaginary companion (SIC) creation in childhood is a typical imaginative play behaviour associated with advanced sociocognitive skills; however, the direction of causality has not been established. To investigate this experimentally, researchers must determine whether children can create, on request, qualitatively equivalent imaginary…

Engagement in play is vital for children to learn 21st-century skills, especially problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, focused attention, and collaboration (Hillman et al., 2014; Singer, 2015; Yogman et al., 2018). These require developing executive functioning skills crucial for school readiness and success. Play fosters brain…

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of musical play on the social skill development of third-grade students and to investigate the opinions of classroom teachers on the effect of musical play on the social skill development of their students. The study sample consists of 60 students: 30 in the experimental group, and 30 in the…

Traditional games are commonly understood for their long establishment, passed down over generations and characterised by the simplicity of their materials. The aim of this article is to explore traditional games where materials are at the centre, focusing on games with stones. Through a new-materialist perspective, using Barad's concept of…

Using data from a year-long case study in a Midwestern public school in the United States, the author invites readers into the play world of four multilingual and multiracial boys, affectionately named the "LEGO Boys" by their third-grade teacher. As documented in the findings, the boys maintained a cohesive narrative about how their…

Spending time in nature during childhood can improve mental and physical health, support academic success, and cultivate pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. Increasing outdoor time during school can enhance the likelihood of those outcomes for all students. However, in practice incorporating outdoor time into the school day can be…

Predominantly, childhood provides a window of opportunity for the promotion and development of social maturation and fundamental movement skills. The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of active play on the motor proficiency and social maturity of children. Thirty participants (age range: seven to nine years old) were randomly assigned…