Over the past decade the market for children's digital play activities focused on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has grown exponentially. One benefit to the growth in digital STEM play is that it can provide children opportunities to engage the cognitive skills and practices that can be valuable for formal STEM learning.…

The purpose of this study was to explore how kindergarten students (aged 5-6 years) engaged with mathematics as they learned programming with robot coding toys. We video-recorded 16 teaching sessions of kindergarten students' (N = 36) mathematical and programming activities. Students worked in small groups (4-5 students) with robot coding toys on…

The authors explore children's symbolic play that involves themes of fear and darkness, and they investigate the nature of children's binary oppositions, particularly between self and other. Their account is based on a year-long qualitative study they conducted with seven children, four to ten years of age. They observed the children engage with…

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…

Recent studies have shown that playing with coding toys enhances children's skills in STEM-subjects, especially problem-solving abilities. However, there is limited knowledge of early childhood education and care (ECEC) teachers' roles in facilitating children's problem-solving through coding-toy play activities and the high-quality pedagogical…

The purpose of this study was to examine the involvement of early childhood pre-service students (PSSs) in children's constructive play and highlight how this involvement supported children's play skills towards advanced play behaviours as seen by previous literature. Drawing from the conceptual framework of the Zone of Proximal Development, as…

Background: Engineering play is an emerging framework for understanding young children's constructive block play as an engineering design process. Few studies have evaluated engineering thinking, language, or behavior in preschool-age children, especially quantitative evaluations that systematically document specific early engineering behavior.…

References to internal states (e.g., thoughts, feelings, and desires) indicate children's appreciation of people's inner worlds. Many children spend time playing video games; however, the nature of children's speech when doing so has received little attention. We investigated the use of internal state language (ISL) as 251 seven-year-olds played…

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effects of multiple exemplar training and social reinforcement on the maintenance and generalization of joint attention initiations across toy classes. Three children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) participated. After analyzing samples of joint attention initiations from neurotypical peers,…

In many countries, individuals have started to gain 21stcentury skills from an early age. In Turkey, the education of gifted students is supported with activities enriched in parallel with these skills in science and art centers. The LEGO® Education® BricQ Motion Essential Set reinforces achievements with hands-on activities in science subjects,…

In the present paper, we focused on toys depicting physical disabilities and their potential role as inclusive educational means in kindergartens. We tested The Mere Exposure Effect and the Contact Theory (previously suggested as explanatory mechanisms underlying more favorable attitudes toward disability) by using toys depicting physical…

The author analyzed popular YouTube toy play videos, reviewing the range of storylines and their impact and influence. She argues that, although such videos may contribute to the commercialization of toys and play, they may also facilitate development of fine motor skills, socialization, and learning. She notes that, as with all Internet content,…

Computational thinking (CT) has been supported as an important skill every young person should possess for the 21st century, with possible implications for problem-solving, self-expression, and creativity. Numerous initiatives, both within and outside classroom settings, have been developed in response to policy mandates aiming at broadening…

Toys used as a play tool have an important role in the development of children. For this reason, it is necessary to offer children the opportunity to design their own toys. Scientific toys can be used in science lessons to encourage creativity and to teach science concepts and scientific inquiry. With the integrated STEM Education and specifically…

The purpose of this study is to gather in-depth information about the direct effects of the major disaster resulting from the earthquakes of 7.4 and 7.8 magnitudes that occurred in Turkey on February 6, 2023, and still affect the most affected provinces, from the perspective of preschool teachers working in those regions. This includes examining…