Dramatic play provides children an excellent way to express their feelings and perceptions of the world that surrounds them. It is also an alternative way for researchers and teachers to capture, understand, and interpret children's voices because of the difficulties that children have in expressing ideas through oral and written language. While…

This study examined research on children's block play, using content analysis to review 75 documents that focused on such play. Each document was coded by type (empirical study or nonempirical article) and by 15 topics and 76 subtopics grouped into 4 broad categories: (1) environment/ecology; (2) block play and the school curriculum; (3) block…

This guidebook for parents and early intervention personnel was developed by the "Let's Play! Project," a 3-year federally supported project that worked to promote play in infants and toddlers with disabilities through the use of "low-tech" assistive technology. The guide is organized around six emerging stages of play development: (1) sensory…

Noting that little is known about young children's informal mathematical knowledge and that such knowledge may contribute to national differences in mathematics achievement, this study examined Taiwanese and American preschool children's informal mathematical knowledge and the type of mathematical activities they encounter in everyday life. Data…

Many parents find that the daily stress of coping with the demanding realities of their work lives leaves them with little personal and family time; playing with their children may therefore fall to the bottom of the "to-do list." One of the tasks of early childhood professionals thus becomes helping parents understand the nature and…

This book acknowledges the contributions of Alfred Adler and illustrates the many ways in which Adlerian ideas underpin and influence contemporary therapeutic approaches. It brings together today's leading thinkers to address the practice of counseling and psychotherapy from a social-cognitive perspective. Contributors apply the basic ideas of…

Unintentional injuries are the number one cause of death in childhood, and boys experience two to four times more injuries than girls. The present study examined whether mothers differed in their speed to intervene and the nature of their intervention responses depending on the sex of the child, the injury history of the child, the level of risk…

Scientists believe that the stimulation that infants and young children receive determines which synapses form in the brain. This book presents 125 games for infants from birth to 12 months and is designed to nurture brain development. The book is organized chronologically in 3-month increments. Each game description includes information from…

A study applied an ethnography of speaking to the study of a bilingual child, with the construct of a frame as the unit of analysis. The child was observed and tape recorded playing a commercial game in Chinese with her mother and in English with her father. Both activity frames and conceptual frames were analyzed toward answering: (1) what frames…

Why typical playgrounds are designed the way they are by adults is discussed, including what the ideal outdoor play/learning environment for children is and how the outdoor space should be considered as an extension of the classroom. The paper emphasizes the importance of nature to children, discusses the criteria playground designers should…

This study on the effect of participation in field trips as a literacy intervention in play investigated how preschool children incorporated the literacy behaviors emphasized during the field trips into their play activities. Authentic literacy materials were included in two dramatic play centers before and after 15 children participated in…

This digest reviews children's writing development from socio-cultural, generative, and developmental perspectives. The digest's first section deals with oral language, art, and children's early writing, noting that children use their drawing and talk to support their early exploration and use of print. The second section examines how, in addition…

Analyzes the nature and characteristics of the scientific endeavor to compare with that of children's play. Describes science as a form of religious sacred play which creates a world of make-believe that one may enter if one chooses to play. (CC)

Uses the format of a dramatic play as a means of explaining the relativity of time to beginning physics students. (JR)

A look at children's play in India and its curious mixture of generosity and hostility. The universality of play is discussed. (ST)