Decades of research have illustrated the linguistic, social, and cognitive growth that occurs in the context of play (e.g., Baron-Cohen, 1987; Lifter, Foster-Sanda, Arzamarski, Briesch, & McClure, 2011; Lillard et al., 2013; Ungerer & Sigman, 1984). Play also provides opportunities to practice and gain important social skills. During play…

This study offers a look inside one school community. The school implemented Let Grow Play Club and a recently expanded 40-minute recess period. Data are from observations of children's play periods, child interviews, and teacher interviews. We argue that play has significant cognitive, emotional, and social benefits for elementary school…

Introduction: In recent years many schools have introduced peer mediation as a method to improve coexistence. However, little has been done in the way of empirical evaluation of school mediation services. The aim of this research, therefore, was to understand the benefits of mediation from an educational and transformational perspective, by…

Preschoolers' theory of mind (ToM) was examined in relation to emotional features of their conflicts with siblings, using mothers as privileged informants. Fifty-four children aged 3 to 5 years and their 54 mothers took part. Children were given 10 standard false belief tasks and a standardized language test. Mothers completed questionnaires,…

Because of the substantial impact on outcomes for children, states and school districts across the country are addressing issues surrounding early learning opportunities and school readiness for young children. Full-day kindergarten plays an important role in both. Colorado has made significant investments in full-day kindergarten as a means of…

Investigated associations among constructive and destructive sibling conflict, pretend play, internal state language, and sibling relationship quality among sibling pairs with one kindergarten-age child. Found that specific resolution strategies were associated with conflict issues, aggression and internal state language, and that conflict issues…

Discusses the effect of children's outdoor play on their learning, the promotion of children's development by their playing of games which they have invented, and suggestions for adults to encourage children to invent outdoor games. (BC)

Friendships of early adolescence are generally accepted as having special significance for psychological development. This study was conducted to examine the sources of conflict between friends during early adolescence; to assess the social-cognitive developmental level of early adolescents; and to explore the relationships among sources of…

This study sought to validate two measures of social cognitive development: a measure of conflict resolution (Shantz and Shantz, 1982), and a social rule measure (Shantz, 1982). Participants were 214 kindergarten through fourth grade children from two suburban schools, one a public school and the other a Catholic parochial school in the Chicago…

This paper discusses some commonly recognized characteristics of preadolescent and early adolescent youngsters and the needs which underlie them, and describes the variety of resources available to the parent who seeks to understand, guide, and live in harmony with a young person who has begun the transition from child to young adult.…

It is the view of these authors that children learn to be peacebuilders in the context of relationships where, if fortunate, they experience guided practice in interpersonal skill development around conflict. "Mediator Mentors", the program described in this article, is a school-university partnership in which Teacher-Education…

Children between the ages of 5 and 8 years undergo profound transitions in cognitive, social, and emotional functioning as well as and in their educational and peer experiences. This book, the fifth in the "Your Child at Play" series, describes the types of play activities children engage in as they explore ideas, interact with friends…