This study investigated whether 13 young children presented with anatomically correct dolls would exhibit behaviors that professionals (n=14) could agree on to determine the child's abuse status. The study concluded that experienced professionals agree poorly with each other about a child's abuse status and that sexually anatomically correct dolls…

Evaluation of the conversational behavior of 36 children (ages 48-59 months) playing in dyads with 3 different materials (modeling dough, a farm set, and animal puppets) found that each toy elicited the same amount of talking, though there were differences in discourse structure attributable to play materials. (DB)

One aspect of ethological methodology, behavioral categorization, is applied to the study of young children's social behavior in preschool classrooms. Studies are reviewed and recommendations for future use of ethological methods, with specific reference to categorizing children's play, are offered. (LB)

The study compared the classroom and playground behaviors of 95 Australian elementary students with mild disabilities and 95 matched students without disabilities. Although many similarities in behavior patterns were observed, children with disabilities interacted and played less with their peers, engaged in more solitary play, and initiated more…

The National Association of Elementary School Principals has developed standards designed to help schools and school districts meet their obligations to parents of young children. Four of the group's recommendations are offered. (DG)

This study found that the social play of 29 intellectually gifted kindergartners was indistinguishable from the play of nongifted controls in terms of peer association pattern and general focus. Gifted children associated with more popular classmates than did nongifted classmates. Gifted boys received fewer positive and more negative sociometric…

A study of the everyday pretending of children in nine middle-class families addressed fundamental issues about the social nature of early pretend play. Children were followed from 12 to 48 months of age. Children's pretending occurred predominantly in interaction with others. (GLR)

Discusses the effects of child play on the learning and development of young children. Argues that play is an important part of an entire network of learning, a fact often overlooked by parents who view play as recreation. Maintains that, when parents and educators help children to enhance their play experiences, important learning outcomes can…

Notes that in early childhood classrooms or outdoors, a water center can be the catalyst for building concepts, developing language, and promoting social skills. Discusses how to set up such a center and the teacher's role in facilitating learning through this medium. Includes 25 ideas for promoting discovery learning in water play. (HTH)

Sociometric status assessment of mainstreamed Hispanic pupils in grades four and five found that learning-disabled pupils (n=60) received lower sociometric peer ratings than nonhandicapped peers, though considerable variability existed and sociometric context influenced status. Thirty percent of the disabled sample were in the rejected status…

Considered the relation between peer status and aggressive behavior, the temporal relation between peer group behavior and emerging sociometric status, differences in behavioral correlates of peer status as a function of time that peers have known each other, and age differences in the consistency of status across settings and in behavior patterns…

Examined longitudinal associations between the rough-and-tumble play of popular and rejected children and measures of their social affiliation and social cognition. Results suggest that rough-and-tumble play for popular, but not rejected, children predicts aspects of social affiliation and social cognitive status. (Author/GLR)

This study investigated the effects of a peer-mediated intervention on the social interaction of five triads composed of preschoolers with autism and typical peers. Improved rates of social interaction during play were clearly associated with the peer intervention for four of the five children with autism. (Author/DB)

Describes the development and implementation of a health promotion curriculum for four- and five-year-old children in a preschool class. The curriculum emphasized the use of the visual arts, drama, and music as learning strategies for health promotion. (BB)

Four experiments confirmed the widely accepted hypothesis that, although children as young as two engage in pretend play, even four and five year olds do not understand that pretending requires mental representation. Children appear to misconstrue pretense as its common external manifestations, such as actions, until at least age six. (MDM)