Children's outdoor play is declining, despite clear links between play, learning and development. Alternative learning initiatives which provide children with a diversity of play opportunities, including the chance to play outdoors, are therefore needed. One such programme, Forest School, is increasing in popularity in the UK and internationally,…

Purpose: Preschoolers born preterm are at an increased risk for the development of language impairments. The primary objective of this study was to document the expressive language skills of preschoolers born preterm through 2 assessment procedures, language sample analysis, and standardized assessment. A secondary objective was to investigate the…

This case study attempts to capture the way gender is constructed and experienced in the social world of the nursery school. It presents findings from a staff survey, structured and unstructured observations of one male's and one female's professional practice and one-to-one interviews with children aged three to four years. Despite practitioners'…

Fundamental movement skills (FMS) are foundational and therefore play an important role in the overall development, sport-specific skills, and academic achievement of children. The aim of the study was to determine if a correlation exists between FMS and the academic performance of 5- to 6-year-old preschoolers. An empirical study including one…

Neoliberal rationalities predicated on consumer choice and market forces have increasingly positioned parents as consumers in early childhood and care markets. In this context, providers jostle to attract clientele by providing pathways through and around a milieu of parental anxieties and ambitions for their children. This article examines a…

Play is a gendered activity among young children, especially boys. Boys often tend to be more actively engaged in the (re)production of gendered play. However, most research studies and conceptual papers have misread, ignored, devalued, or scrutinized the gendered ways Black boys engage in play. This idea is particularly true for Black boys who…

Playful experiences provide us with the opportunity to engage with others and learn in enjoyable ways. Recognising and building on the power of playfulness and play can be a way to support more meaningful educational experiences for all, life-wide and lifelong. This "Trends Shaping Education Spotlight" touches on gamification as a…

The number of mothers with young children experiencing homelessness and seeking shelter has increased in the USA over the past decade. Shelters are often characterized as environments offering few opportunities for appropriate play experiences. This article delineates the important role of play for young children experiencing homelessness and…

In this research I investigated the views preschool educators in Taiwan on play and the role of play in the curriculum. Adopting a qualitative methodology, I conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 educators at preschools affiliated with elementary schools. The results indicate that preschool educators generally agree that, in addition to…

Since the introduction of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) in England in 2008, assessment of children has taken a formal and standardized measurable approach. Such an approach goes against most findings of play-oriented research. Thus, the project reported here employed participatory action research with practitioners in order to identify…

This article examines play as a conceptual third space that serves as a bridge between home and school discourses. Using sociocultural theories and an interpretivist framework, 19 immigrant mothers and their children in Canada were interviewed about their play experiences at home and in preschools. The findings reveal that children and teachers…

It can hardly be denied that play is an important tool for the development and socialisation of children. In this article we argue that through dramaturgical play in combination with pedagogical tools such as the Community of Inquiry, in the tradition of Philosophy for Children (P4C), students can creatively think, reflect and be more aware of the…

Play has been synonymous with early childhood education and is an important aspect of child development. Researchers have characterized and defined play from different perspectives. If play is an integral part of the early years what is its relationship to learning? This paper describes the development of conceptual play by using the pedagogy of…

Objective: To compare physical activity and sedentary time among young children whose schools adhere to traditional (i.e. three outdoor playtimes = 70 minutes) versus balanced day (i.e. two outdoor playtimes = ~55 minutes) schedules in Ontario full-day kindergarten classrooms. Design: The project was part of a larger, 2-year cross-sectional study.…

"Storymaking" makes use of school makerspaces to combine making and storytelling. Constructing a diorama is a common storytelling activity in schools. This exploratory study describes preliminary efforts that explored the feasibility of extending "Make to Learn" activities with elementary and middle school students from two…