Block building activities help develop students' spatial reasoning, but few studies focus on the development of block building skills beyond preschool. We worked with four kindergarten, four first grade, and four second grade students to learn more about their Lego block building. We compared students' accuracy, building strategies, and spatial…

Compared to previous generations, young children today hear music that differs not only in its content but also in its source of production, mode of transmission, and integration with other activities or social contexts (Young, 2009). In fact, Young (2009) argues that digital technologies allow the home, as opposed to community sites, to be the…

Drawing on the construct of "ways of knowing" from the feminist tradition the Bots for Tots project explores the affordances of activity framings and structures that tap into alternate mental dispositions to broaden participation and interest in maker activities. In this paper I present data from a workshop with 9-10 year olds explicitly…

The purpose of this study is to gather information about caregivers' views of the value of a digital music toy, its musical features, as well as their comments about children's responses to the toy. Instead of asking parents to provide their opinions about a broad category of interactive music toys, the authors selected one of the many toys…

This discussion: (1) contrasts children's play with war toys with children's imaginative war play; (2) provides definitions of play and war toys; (3) probes the impact of war toys on children's behavior, ideas, attitudes, and values; (4) reports related research; and (5) describes organizations working against such toys, including the…

This paper focuses on possible relations between early peer skills and developing cognitive abilities. One promising area for discovering relations between cognitive development and peer interaction appears to be related to the young child's developing ability to differentiate self from other, that is, decentration. Decentration is typically…

Differences in toy selection and play behavior of five preschoolers with Down's Syndrome and nonretarded preschoolers matched for mental and chronological age were examined. Toy selection was determined by length of time and frequency with which the child played with 12 toys in two 15-minute sessions. Analysis of play behavior considered child and…

The author asserts that computers are in schools for the deaf and that their uses are unlimited. She describes computer toys, such as BIG TRAK, as well as software programs for language arts, mathematics, and word processing. (CL)

Observations suggest that 12-month-old children show little evidence of possession rules, while 18- and 24-month-olds are still coming to differentiate purely personal possession rules from shared possession rules that take into account the other child's status or rights as a possessor. Children 12 months old exhibited the highest frequency of…

The two papers focus on methods of selecting toys for handicapped children and options in playground equipment for this population. The qualities of a good toy, such as stimulation and safety, are examined. The author discusses various considerations in selecting toys for different handicaps; for example, toys for visually impaired children should…

This study provides evidence of sex-typed behavior in the spontaneous play of infants between 9 1/2 and 15 1/2 months. Eight boys and eight girls at 9 1/2, 11 1/2, 13 1/2, and 15 1/2 months were observed during 15 minutes of free play with a variety of realistic toys equally divided into male, female, and neutral categories. Stereotypical,…

The Lekotek, a toylending library program for mentally retarded children which started in Sweden, has expanded to serve families with disabled children in Evanston, Illinois. The Lekotek procedure involves a parental interview to determine the child's needs and family visits in which a Lekotek leader has a one-hour session with the child and then…

In Western societies, television has transformed the life, culture, and points of reference of the child. Its particular sphere of influence is the child's play culture. This play culture is not hermetic: it is very oriented toward manipulation; has a symbolic role as a representational medium; evolves along with the child; has a certain amount of…

Described is an independent toy play curriculum for young handicapped children. It is explained that toys were analyzed according to functions in three classifications: functional toy skills (toys designed to elicit simple motor actions of short duration); physical toy skills (toys designed to elicit gross motor action); and constructive toy…

The paper looks at the development of a play group for autistic children with descriptions of the autistic population, the daily program, the program's philosophy, the play group model, and actual lessons. Children, who ranged in age from 5 to 9 years, often chose activities which were self-stimulating and/or repetitive. The daily program included…