Play is an important component of a child's development and learning. Research studies on play therapy have shown the benefits it has on developmental areas such as behavior control, assertiveness, task orientation, and social skills. Primary Project is a school-based play intervention which has consistently shown improved social and emotional…

Early exploratory behaviors have been proposed to facilitate children's learning, impacting motor, cognitive, language, and social development. This study related the performance of behaviors used to explore oneself to behaviors used to explore objects, and then related both types of exploratory behaviors to motor, language, and cognitive measures…

This 3-wave longitudinal study investigated the developmental trajectories of instrumental helping, sharing and empathic helping across toddlerhood, and how socialisation processes (i.e., parents' and teachers' practices) contribute to these developments. Participants were 50 18-months-olds and 62 24-months-olds, their parents, and daycare…

Creativity has become an essential curriculum competence, playing a pivotal role in the successful response to the ever-changing demands of contemporary society. Yet, its complex, dynamic, and multifaceted nature seem conflicted with the predominant quantitative and easy-to-replicate curricular goals, resulting in potential incongruence between…

The relationship between motor skills and executive functions (EFs) is gaining prominence in the field of developmental psychology. However, evidence of the motor skills--EFs link in children with typical development is somewhat inconsistent and there has been no adequate attempt to evaluate it systematically across studies. In view of this, the…

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with poorer health and educational outcomes. With over 20% of children experiencing multiple ACEs, interventions must target protective factors to improve outcomes among these students. Teacher-student relationships (TSRs) integrated with the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child…

Coaching is proven to be an effective strategy of professional development; however, rare research has documented the nuances of coaching effects and the enablers in early childhood education. This study presents a systematic review of 33 randomised controlled trials or (quasi-)experiments to investigate the effects of coaching as a professional…

Child education and accompanying discourse in the seventeenth-century circles of Constantijn Huygens are thoroughly researched. But while children grow up, parents also learn and not only through their siblings. Some remarks about experiences that Huygens had outside the regular discourse on education can be made. Huygens' correspondence and his…

The exploration and/or manipulation of objects and materials, referred to as object-oriented play (OOP), is one of the most prominent activities children engage in during early childhood. Especially within early childhood education, it is important to be able to assess and understand OOP, its developmental trajectory, and developmental value. This…

Although neurotypical children often spend the majority of their time engaged in play activities, children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can present with substantial delays in the development of play skills, requiring intensive intervention. Although targets for language and basic learning skills are often selected based on the development…

A long-standing question in developmental science is how the neurodevelopment of the brain influences cognitive functions. Here, we examined the developmental change of resting EEG power and its links to vocabulary acquisition in school-age children. We further explored what mechanisms may mediate the relation between brain rhythm maturation and…

This study aimed to verify the course of maternal anxiety disorders and its impact on child development of toddlers. This is a cohort study that followed 497 pregnant adolescents who received antenatal care in the public health service in a southern city in Brazil. We assessed maternal anxiety disorders during gestation, postpartum, and when…

Play acts as the source of children's development in the preschool period. Yet, the global pandemic has changed children's play conditions in ways that are not yet fully understood. With movement restrictions, families have struggled to find ways of bringing children together for play. We studied how family day care (FDC) educators across a remote…

Within South Africa, approximately 1.5 million children suffer from malnutrition and stunting with dire effects on their early development and thriving potential. Nutritional care within the first 1000 days of children's life plays pivotal role in their holistic development when a stable, safe, nurturing and responsive relationship is provided by…

Purpose: Limited quantitative data exist regarding growth of the velopharynx within the first 2 years of life. The purpose of this study was to (a) quantify changes in velopharyngeal structures due to growth during the first 2 years of life, (b) examine the impact of sex and race within this age range, and (c) provide normative measures for…