This article explores advocacy practices that support teachers' integration of play and playful learning in their classrooms. Activism is a well-documented transformative aspect of the teaching profession (e.g.), which is recently experiencing heightened political pressures. At the same time, COVID-19 exacerbated existing inequities in early…

Background: The System of Observing Play and Leisure Activity in Youth (SOPLAY) has assisted in providing valid and reliable data of youth physical activity and characteristics specific to environmental contexts. The review aimed to examine empirical research that employed the SOPLAY instrument to measure physical activity in leisure-based…

Direct experience with nature is a primary component of environmental education and especially beneficial for young children. The present study examined the outdoor play preferences of toddlers and investigated the role teachers play in the outdoor space. Toddlers' outdoor play was video recorded by GoPro cameras and coded for preferred play…

This article uses the concept of literacy-as-event to explore the embodied meaning-making of a young child during small world play. Recent developments in literacy research, influenced by relational thinking, have led to a reconsideration of how meaning-making unfolds in home and school settings. The concept of literacy-as-event suggests that…

Vocabulary knowledge provides a critical foundation for later reading comprehension. Children with limited vocabularies and background knowledge often need many opportunities to learn a new word. One effective way to promote vocabulary acquisition for young children is to provide opportunities for children to learn new words throughout classroom…

Policies related to the inclusion of children with disabilities in mainstream classrooms have led to questions regarding how teachers can help cultivate inclusive learning communities where all children are supported and valued. In play-based kindergarten programs, teachers are tasked with ensuring goals for children's learning and development are…

Background: Play is an essential component of children's development. Children with intellectual disability tend to have poor socioemotional abilities and impaired play. This study examined the effects of a medical/therapeutic clowning play intervention on the playfulness of children with intellectual disability. Method: Two medical clowns…

When given the opportunity to play with mathematical materials and ideas, children demonstrate their mathematical understanding in innovative ways. The open-ended nature of the "Pattern Blocks" activity provides agency for children to decide how to approach the tasks, ways to differentiate beyond more common pattern-block puzzle choices,…

The present study examined the effectiveness of a cooperative skill intervention program using theme-based joint block play for young children. Thirty-two 4--5 years old preschoolers from Shanghai, China, were assigned to the experimental group while thirty-two children comprised the comparison group. The experimental group was engaged in an…

A comparison of the use of parables within children's ministry practice reveals two very different approaches: Jerome Berryman's Godly Play elevates the role of parables and is open-ended for the child to interpret. Examples of UK evangelical processes are then observed and are seen to make much less use of parables but mediate the intent of those…

Playing is an activity that affects significantly the psychological development and learning in preschool age. Opinions among researchers and practitioners are divided about adults' role in children's play. Despite being a children's activity, high-level, complex social play hardly appears without adult mediation. According to the narrative play…

For the current study, a multi-measure, micro-analytic approach was used to prospectively explore the role of preliminary symbolic play with single and multi-objects in language milestone development and vice versa. Fourteen infants followed up in monthly one hour sessions between the ages of 8 and 16 months. Their spontaneous play acts and vocal…

The purpose of this study was to propose design elements for the use of gamification in educational settings to provide a sense of play and learning to the students. This design-based research was carried out in two implementations, in which two different graduate courses were designed using gamification. The design portion of the study was…

Scientists have long employed puppets in research with young children; this essay explores the validity of this practice. After considering what puppets are, their main types and history, I note the different ways puppets have been employed in research. One of these uses raises the issue of whether and when children apply their theory of mind to…

Studies over many years have indicated that early educators are exposed to high levels of stress-related to low pay, lack of benefits, high-stakes responsibilities, low levels of support, and inattention to basic personal care needs. At the same time, the effective early educator has been identified as a primary factor in providing quality early…