Purpose: This article reflects on the adaption of Sarah Pink's video re-enactment methodology for exploring children's out-of-school lifeworlds. Design/methodology/approach: Video re-enactments originate in the work of Sarah Pink who developed the methodology to study everyday routines, including activities associated with people's energy…

This qualitative study explores how play informs the making process in a media arts environment. Drawing on Dewey's ([1938]1998). Concepts of experience, purpose, and freedom, we explore how play and making are employed in an out-of-school media arts environment. The purpose of this study is to examine one child's use of digital media in this…

Friendship is of great concern to young children (Unicef 2011. "The State of the World's Children." New York: United Nations Children's Fund). Research also suggests the positive outcomes friendships have on children's development, learning and well-being (Daniels, Tina, Danielle Quigley, Lisa Menard, and Linda Spence. 2010. "My…

Play allows young children to acquire and practice mathematics skills and concepts while engaging in meaningful and enjoyable activities (Bobis, 2010; Reed & Young, 2018). In particular, open-ended play provides children opportunities to discover materials, explore concepts, and solve problems (Rosli & Lin, 2018) and in the process,…

Around the world, on every continent, and in every country, children play. Though culturally contextualized, play is a global common childhood experience. There are cultural variations in children's play activities, and though play looks and sounds different across the world, there are also commonalities. Though scholars find it difficult to…

Theraplay® is an attachment-based intervention involving adults and children which is practised in a variety of settings across the world. The aim of this scoping review is to explore how Theraplay® has been used as an intervention with children and families in order to inform future practice and to identify any gaps in the current literature. By…

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore ways in which educators can provide space for critical literacy and transactional responses with literature in early childhood classrooms. This approach to early literacy involves bringing the following three theories into practice when teaching young children: Transactional Theory of Reader Response,…

Previous studies have emphasised that play can promote children's learning of mathematics. However, little research has been directed towards understanding how collective imaginary play motivates children's mathematical learning. Informed by the cultural-historical conception of play and motives, this paper examines how Conceptual PlayWorld (CPW)…

This investigation narrates how digital game playing while integrating augmented reality can help enhance higher-order thinking. Digital game playing, when referring to games played on computers, game consoles, or handhelds, can be considered a powerful learning tool in education. The central problem of this investigation lies in the fact that…

Using a convergent parallel mixed methods design, the present study examined children's screen time and social behaviors through parents' perceptions. The participants were 113 children and their parents for the quantitative strand and 42 randomly selected parents for the qualitative strand of the study. Parents reported on children's social…

Children are being diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) at younger ages then historically represented (Guthrie, Swinford, Notke & Wetherby, 2013). Due to increased awareness of ASD and improved diagnostic tools, younger children are receiving Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) at an early age ( Hertz-Picciotto & Delwiche, 2009). ABA…

One of the crucial 21st-century digital skills, in the context of digital transformation, is problem solving--equally so in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). In the context of kindergarten, learning through play is central; therefore, pretend play, and particularly guided pretend play, is suggested as an…

Play is an essential component of childhood, but parents and educators sometimes view it as an optional add-on, which gets in the way of learning. This view persists in spite of evidence that play is helpful and sometimes critical to learning in multiple domains, perhaps because precise mechanisms whereby play occasions learning are not well…

The purpose of the present study was to investigate children's connected communication during play with a sibling and friend from early to middle childhood. Participants included 65 4-year-old focal children at time 1 (T1) and 46 7-year-old focal children at time 2 (T2) who were videotaped at home in separate semi-structured free play sessions…

This paper, drawing on Margaret Meek Spencer's work, considers the value of reflecting on literacy histories, whether of children, teachers, authors or academics. Margaret argued that teachers need to be open to literacy as lived, and to look, listen and learn about literacies that develop "without" direct instruction and stretch beyond…