The aim of this study was to determine the validity and reliability of the Perceived Movement Skill Competence scales for Iranian children. In particular, the scales aligned with the second and third versions of the Test of Gross Motor Development and the active play skills. The total sample was 314 children aged 4-8 years (M[subscript age] = 6.1…

Background: The relation between the human body movements and cognition has been a research hotspot in physical education and health promotion in recent years. This study applied the embodied cognition theory to examine the effects of the Movement Integrity with Intelligent Play (MIIP) program on preschoolers' math performance. Objective: This…

Infants can help and share in the second year of life. However, there is limited knowledge as to variability in these behaviors as a function of target (e.g., caregiver vs. unfamiliar adult) and the influence of caregiver support on infant prosocial behavior. Infants (N = 268, 124 female) at 1-2 years of age (M = 1.47, SD = 0.27) and again at 2-3…

European quality framework for early childhood education and care calls for creating environments that support all children's sense of belonging. This study aims to advance empirical knowledge on educators' interpretations of children's belonging in early education settings. The study is part of a project conducted in five European countries --…

Although isolating, lockdown also created unexpected opportunities for connection and inspiration. This article describes the lockdown literacies of a sibling pair, Marco and Mara, as they wrote digital texts/books for Literacy-Cast, a virtual, interactive literacy space offered by Appalachian State University from March 2020-present. Since…

During imaginative play, children may learn foundational skills important for academic success. Indeed, imaginative children, high in fantasy orientation (FO), may have advantages in skills that support positive classroom and social behavior. Yet findings are mixed regarding the classroom behavior of children high in fantasy orientation. The…

Purpose: Much scholarly hand-wringing has concerned the academic engagement of Black and Latino boys. At the center of these conversations are questions of culture. Cultural disconnects between home and school are profound for students from marginalized communities, particularly so for young men. Prudence Carter asserts that young men in urban…

The relationship between adolescents' use of video games and their well-being is controversial and largely unexplored during the COVID -19 pandemic. This study examined the association between adolescent video game use and well-being during a nationwide lockdown (March-May 2020) and investigated whether this association was mediated by emotional…

In this article we present our findings regarding of providing online educational activities, delivered by six adults, during 13 weeks (first semester 2020) to 15 children aging from 5 to 7 (the Beaver scouts), on a non-formal education context. The activities combined guided play and problem-based learning activities. Our research objective was…

This paper reflects on a research-creation project that investigates the ways in which surveillance is experienced by youth as an embodiment that might be difficult to articulate in words but rather expressed affectively, through emotion and social practice. Our argument is that the aesthetic intervention provoked by research-creation can…

Purpose: Despite the fact that research on creativity and cognition have garnered the attention of researchers and practitioners for decades, there is a lack of valid, reliable, and accessible instruments for enhancing and measuring these critical skills. Leveraging research from The LEGO Foundation and in collaboration with BrainPOP and the…

Play is essential to learning and development in the early childhood years. Young children experiment with new skills through play, which supports the development of new competencies and furthers cognitive development. Nontraditional learning spaces such as teaching and learning gardens provide excellent opportunities for children to engage in…

This study investigated how children describe their play activities and associate learning with play. Accordingly, 23 early childhood children from different cities and age groups were included in this phenomenological research study. Incorporating images of children's drawings of their favourite playtime and semi-structured interviews, three main…

Teacher Efficacy (TE) refers to teachers' confidence in their ability to promote student's learning. Research shows that generalist teachers' TE for music education is generally low, with many teachers associating music education with innate musical talents -- a problem exacerbated by music education programmes that focus on singing or playing…

A contributing factor to the loss of play in many early childhood classrooms is a sharp separation between literacy learning as serious, even urgent, academic work and play as optional, socially-beneficial-at-best, fun. To recenter play in the academic curriculum, early childhood educators must not only demonstrate how play benefits the existing…