Geographically isolated in the south-west Pacific but intellectually and culturally connected to Western Europe, Aotearoa New Zealand's early childhood education sector is a unique mix of influences. The imprint of progressive education is evident in a legacy of "free play" programmes, yet its national curriculum is built on the…

Technology, digital media and popular culture form an important aspect of young children's life-worlds in contemporary post-industrial societies. A problem for early childhood educators is how to most effectively integrate these aspects of children's life-worlds into the provision of play-based learning. Traditionally, research has considered…

This study is a cooperation between the authors and a teacher who works with pupils affected by autism spectrum disorders (9-12 years old) in a primary Danish school. The aim was assess the benefits of game-based learning with respect to teachers' main challenges: facilitating the discussion of curricular subjects and enabling learning through…

This latest edition of "The Creative Arts in Counseling" is a powerful, evidence-based examination of how creative expression can be used in counseling with clients of various ages and backgrounds. It explores the clinical application of all of the major creative arts, including music, dance/movement, imagery, visual arts,…

The importance of nature-based play has gradually become forefront in an array of research fields. From the more obvious physical benefits to the complex mental benefits, nature has proved time and time again to be the cure-all for a variety of common ailments. Richard Louv, author of the famed "Last Child in the Woods," has spawned a…

Children with autism often engage in repetitive play with little variation in the actions performed or items used. This study examined the use of video modeling with scripted substitutable loops on children's pretend play with trained and untrained characters. Three young children with autism were shown a video model of scripted toy play that…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate significant heterogeneity in their profiles of social interaction and stress responsivity. We evaluated behavior and stress response in 52 male children ages 8-12 in a naturalistic playground interaction paradigm involving a child with ASD, a typically developing peer, and a same-age…

Why do people enjoy jigsaw puzzles, which--challenging and time-consuming as they are--might be considered more like work than play? The author investigates the motivations, preferences, and satisfactions of individuals working on jigsaw puzzles, and she explores how these elements of play relate to the procedures and strategies puzzlers use to…

This study examined the effects of adult imitation and adult playfulness on the imitation, social attention and initiation of new behaviours by non-verbal preschoolers with autism. Videotapes taken from a previous study were recoded for the adult's imitation and playful behaviour and the children's imitation, social attention (looking at…

Some researchers have proposed that video games possess good learning principles and may promote problem solving skills. Empirical research regarding this relationship, however, is limited. The goal of the presented study was to examine whether strategic video game play (i.e., role playing and strategy games) predicted self-reported problem…

This article offers practical advice for teachers interested in using Inventing Games (IG) as a way to facilitate learning about game structures, rules, and the principles of fair play that they can apply not only to game play, but to everyday life as members of a democratically organized society. Inventing Games gives students the opportunity to…

Young children begin helping others with simple instrumental problems from soon after their first birthdays. In previous observations of this phenomenon, both naturalistic and experimental, children's parents were in the room and could potentially have influenced their behavior. In the two current studies, we gave 24-month-old children the…

Although the literature on parent-child interactions in young children with autism has examined dyadic style, synchrony, and sustained engagement, the examination of parental skill in sustaining and developing play skills themselves has not been targeted. This study examined the extent to which parents of young children with autism match and…

The review by Lillard et al. (2013) highlighted the need for additional research to better clarify the nature of the relationship between pretend play and development. However, the authors did not provide a proposal for how to structure the direction of this future work. Here, we provide a possible framework for generating additional research.…

After 36 years of working as a progressive educator in American schools, the author notes the near absence of joy, passion, and imagination that today's students experience. He asks, "Where's wonder?" In this essay, the author makes a case for the role of wonder in learning as he reflects on his work with schools and museum educators at…