Children's oral language skills at the earliest stages of education are known to determine their success at school later on. Improving oral language skills is achievable through targeted intervention, and drama can be an effective intervention medium, but its potential has not been extensively evaluated to date. The present study piloted an…

Objectives: This report presents national estimates of difficulties in functioning for children ages 2-17. Methods: 2021-2023 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data were used to assess difficulties in functioning among children. NHIS has included the Child Functioning Module, developed jointly by UNICEF and the Washington Group on Disability…

Interdisciplinary learning has become prevalent as a means of solving problems encountered in everyday life. Yet, there is a lack of experimental studies investigating strategies to facilitate interdisciplinary learning. This study explored the impacts of timing and types of instructional materials on the study of interdisciplinary subjects. A 2 ×…

The aim of this research is to investigate the effect of inclusive play and special movement education applied to disadvantaged and peer preschool children in Erzurum city center on their basic skills. 22 students (10 disadvantaged children + 12 peer group children) consisting of disadvantaged children and peer children who were educated in…

This study aims to determine the influence of practice-based active learning on students' interest and response in learning local culture in drama classes. The research was conducted at public universities in Indonesia using two active learning strategies. Qualitative methods using participatory techniques, interviews, and observations were…

Supporting language skills for children who evidence delays in preschool is an important area of focus for school-age reading outcomes. Two preschool teachers were trained to implement a play-based language intervention, Enhanced Milieu Teaching (EMT), with children from low-income households with delayed language skills. A multiple-baseline…

In Hong Kong, play-based learning has been highlighted in the latest curriculum guide in 2017. While adopting 'child-centredness' as the core value of kindergarten education can enrich children's play experiences. However, little emphasis has been placed on how young children perceive play-based learning in the classroom. The aim of this…

The physical environment in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) institutions provide children with possibilities for play. This study describes a physical environmental intervention aiming to increase the possibilities for functional play in the indoor environment, and its influence on children's well-being and physical activity. The…

Vygotsky (1978) describes play as having three main components, one being the ability for a child to create an imaginary situation, the second taking on and acting out roles, and the third, following a set of rules that were determined by the roles children took on during play during social or group settings. Hence, supporting much needed social…

Drawing on such academic topics as the white racial frame, critical race theory, Black critical theory, and Black male studies, the authors offer Black PlayCrit, a tool focusing on the specificity of Blackness and anti-Black violence in play. Calling for the adoption of Black PlayCrit in future studies, they suggest researchers should consider…

In August 2017, almost a million Rohingya people fled to Bangladesh to escape violence and persecution in Myanmar; 55 percent of them were children. BRAC, one of the largest nongovernmental organizations in the world, operates an initiative called the Humanitarian Play Lab model for children ages 0-6 in the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh.…

Previous research has indicated that young children's executive functions (EFs) can be bolstered through role-play [e.g. the 'Batman™ effect'; White et al.]. However, what is not clear is whether it is the role-playing of another's perspective, or something about the role played, which is responsible for the Batman™ effect. The current experiment…

Mobile learning techniques have brought the potential of scaffolding information in real-world context that allows learners to interact more actively with their learning content. In this study, we present an interactive learning approach that allows learners to interact with their learning content in real-world context. With learning environment…

Risky play is defined as thrilling and challenging forms of play that have the potential for physical injury and has been linked to development and health benefits for children in the early years. These benefits include risk-assessment skills, increased physical activity and well-being, and promoting social competencies and resilience. Currently,…

The international quality-improvement agenda for Early Childhood Education (ECE) directs attention to maximising children's learning experiences. Yet routines, and particularly those relating to sleep-rest provision, are not well conceptualised as learning opportunities. Often children who no longer sleep in the daytime are required to lie down…