This article considers ways in which toys have featured in children's play throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Whilst often dismissed as trivial novelties, toys can be seen as a significant aspect of material culture, both reflecting and constructing ideas of childhood. A multimodal social semiotic perspective is used to examine a selection of toys…

"Designing an effective educational toy" is a research project that emerged from a teaching and learning course designed to facilitate creative engagement both inside and outside the classroom at Wenzhou-Kean University in China. This research study examines the incorporation of design thinking concepts in the development of an…

Effective teamwork is a crucial transferrable skill for students' learning experience during their studies and future careers. Understanding the making of effective teams, how teams differ from mere groups of individuals, and the potential value and challenges of diversity for team performance is essential for students as current and future team…

A Slinky is a loose helical coil spring and is a well-known educational toy. In this paper a model for a Slinky is presented. The Slinky is represented as a sequence of rigid half coils connected by torsional springs. A range of Slinky configurations in static equilibrium are calculated. Where possible the torsion spring model is compared with the…

Pedagogy is seen as a "double-edged sword": it efficiently conveys information but may constrain the exploration of the causal structure of objects, suggesting that pedagogy and exploration are mutually exclusive learning processes. However, research on children's active involvement in concept acquisition implies that pedagogical signals…

Traditionally, the exogenous control of gaze by external saliencies and the endogenous control of gaze by knowledge and context have been viewed as competing systems, with late infancy seen as a period of strengthening top-down control over the vagaries of the input. Here we found that one-year-old infants control sustained attention through head…

The use of natural and non-natural play materials in early childhood education is a critical facilitator to children's learning and development. Different materials vary in their affordances for sophisticated play, imagination, and creativity, which contribute to children's complex thinking; with the current focus on technology, it has been…

"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…

Manual exploratory behaviors during object interaction that form the basis of tool use behavior, are mostly qualitatively characterized in terms of their frequency and duration of occurrence. To fully understand their functional and clinical significance, quantitative movement characterization is needed alongside their qualitative analysis.…

Mnemonic devices are memory aids that make it easier to recall information and are widely used by students studying anatomy and physiology. Simple musical instruments and toys can serve as mnemonic devices for students learning the functional anatomy of the larynx: balloons can help learners understand and recall how sound is produced; tuning pegs…

This article focuses on child participation in early childhood education (ECE). The theoretical basis for this study is a relational approach that highlights the significance of spatiality and materiality. Drawing from these theoretical perspectives, child participation is understood as a space that children actively do in various combinations of…

The secure base phenomenon was ascribed to changes in exploration observed during Ainsworth's Strange Situation Procedure (SSP), related to the quality of the attachment relationship. However, infant temperament was not taken into consideration. The current study aims to replicate Ainsworth's findings regarding infant exploration and attachment…

The importance of play is well established in early childhood development; however the importance of play appears to diminish in more advanced levels of education. Despite this, the demand for experiential, engaging learning experiences that seek to differentiate graduate-level programs in a fiercely competitive market continues to increase. This…

T he author considers adult doll play as therapeutic intervention by examining how the physical properties of reborn dolls and also sex dolls provide comfort and establish needs met through care giving. She discusses dolls providing a sense of personal identity through narrative play, community, and retail therapy, and she describes the…

The authors discuss loose parts -- pipe cleaners, acorns, fabric, stones, and so forth -- as versatile materials not originally intended for children's play that they can manipulate, modify, and use in their play activities. The authors review the historical foundations of loose parts play, focusing on influential individuals and theories, and…