This report evaluates motivational materials related to the history of mathematics. Materials produced included plays, written articles, slide-tape presentations, and videotapes. Two of these, plays and written articles, were chosen for intensive study. The study included a survey of teacher opinion, a student questionnaire, and evaluations by…

Well-informed teachers of young children recognize the importance of children's social development. The development of social skills lays a critical foundation for later academic achievement as well as work-related skills. Social development is such a key issue with young children that a number of methods to address social skills have been…

This study examined the relationship among children's thoughts about friendship, their observed friendship behavior, and their attachment to their parents. The attachment of 73 children to their mothers was assessed in the Strange Situation procedure when the children were 12 months of age, and to their fathers when they were 13 months of age. At…

This paper reports on an interpretive study of block play in a class of 16 kindergartners. Over the course of a school year 16 hours of videotape of the children's block play was recorded and analyzed. A typology of block play with four domains of block construction, social interaction, negotiation, and scheme development is explained and…

This study examined the playfulness of toddlers, ages 18-24 months, participating in a situational context with a non-maternal adult play partner. The goal was to investigate adult interaction styles and outcomes in terms of children's playful dispositions. Play behaviors were observed and coded from videotapes. A qualitative analysis of…

In this study, preschoolers were observed in the naturalistic preschool context to determine the development of private speech over the preschool years and contextual influences on its occurrence among 3- to 5-year-olds. Thirty-nine preschoolers were observed in their preschool classroom 4 times in 10-minute segments during free choice play…

A philosophical analysis of play and games is undertaken in this paper. Playful gaming, which is shown to be a synthesis of play and games, is utilized as a category for undertaking the examination of play and games. The significance of playful gaming to education is demonstrated through analyses of Plato's, Dewey's, Sartre's, and Marcuse's…

This book examines the history and purpose of outdoor play areas. Chapter 1 of the book discusses the importance of play in children's lives and the role of playgrounds in the play process. The historical development and evolution of playgrounds is recounted in chapter 2, while chapter 3 reviews research on playgrounds, including research…

This study examines the earliest jokes produced by three children and investigates how these jokes contribute to a model of humor development. Subjects were three male infants, and data was collected through a diary record procedure kept by the children's parents. Data was collected on one child at age 13 months; data collection for the other two…

Differences in the play behavior of three mildly, three moderately/severely handicapped and three nonhandicapped preschoolers were examined. Videotapes of free play interaction were analyzed according to existence and appropriateness of interaction and type of noninteraction (toy-directed, self-directed or non-appropriate). Data were analyzed…

A discussion of how to captivate an instructional television audience through dramatization and role-playing. (Author)

Examines the manipulative strategies of 2- to 6-year-olds in terms of three structural principles--hierarchical complexity, interruption and role change--which are formally parallel to dimensions of language structure. Paper includes an extensive discussion of related studies. (JMB)

Paper discusses and presents some examples of the exploration and play mode for computer assisted learning. (Author)

Describes a 30-week program at Michigan State University in which undergraduates gain experience and knowledge mainly by communicating with young children through weekly play encounters. Observation and discussion of videotapes, and lecture and discussion classes are also part of the teacher training program. (ED)

Encourages parents to have more respect for children's play and to spend more time observing their child's play because observation is an effective form of reinforcement. (ED)