Raises concerns about whether literacy-enriched play in early childhood settings is really play. Presents a vignette to illustrate how a teacher can model literacy unobtrusively, thereby enhancing literacy, but unwittingly draw children away from meaningful play activities. Differentiates the cognitive processes involved in play and literacy…

Notes that dramatic play is an important outlet for toddlers and small children, and that prop boxes allow children to know their world, role play, and enhance their imaginations. Provides lists for 20 different prop boxes, and information on getting started, collecting, organizing, and using prop boxes. (SD)

Describes the "Playing for Keeps" project of maintaining a comprehensive, categorized database summarizing current knowledge on play. Presents selected findings and information about: child development theories, studies about the developmental benefits of play, investigations into why play is useful for children, and documentation of the…

Examines connections between children's social pretend play and their improvised classroom drama. Describes similarities and differences between language used to frame social pretend play and language used by teachers and students to frame the imaginary worlds of drama. (MM)

This review of the literature examines characteristics of the play of young children with visual impairments and suggests areas for intervention. The review notes that the deficits in symbolic play commonly exhibited by these children are related to language deficits and that intervention should focus on enhancing the child's sense of self.…

Observed play behaviors in 21 African American preschool children from impoverished families in Head Start classrooms. Play behaviors were categorized as functional, constructive, or pretend. Found that children engaged most frequently in functional play, although many also engaged in pretend play, suggesting that impoverished black children have…

The development of object play was longitudinally examined in 40 children ages 11 to 27 months. The types of object play observed in nondisabled children were observed in children with disabilities at comparable developmental ages. Duration and frequency of active involvement with objects were greater for nondisabled children than for children…

This longitudinal study videotaped six preschool children with various developmental delays, including language delays, during free play and modeling tasks, and examined whether reported parallels between symbolic play and normal language development were evidenced. Results supported previous reports, although variability across observations was…

Presents five articles on the interactions of play and culture in early childhood education. The workshop titles are: "Play and Cultural Differences" (Cronin and Jones); "Play in a Classroom of Iu-Mien Children: (Evans); "The Culture of Play: A Personal Perspective" (Jarman); "'But They're Only Playing': Interpreting…

Summarizes a dissertation that examines the theory and practice of dramatic play among middle school children. Finds that they are still adept and interested in dramatic play. Discusses four components describing the nature and product of the dramatic process (social interactions, metacognitive strategies, ideational processes, and content of…

Provides a positive reaction to Trawick-Smith's article (PS 528 613) and suggests practitioners use insight gained in providing appropriate modeling of various behaviors along the developmental continuum. Suggests that further areas of investigation include research in a more diverse population and ideas for practitioners to use to promote social…

The focus of this article on play training (when adults intervene in informal but purposeful ways in preschool children's spontaneous, symbolic play) is not on whether it works, but on why it works. A theoretical framework for examining adult/child play interactions, which reconciles diverse perspectives in the literature, is presented.…

Examined cross-sectional trends and contextual influences in the development of private speech among preschool children in Montessori and traditional classrooms. Found that diminished make-believe play, greater teacher direct involvement, and heightened time spent in transitions largely accounted for a lower incidence of private speech. (JS)

Examined associations between preschoolers' play and emotional competence with peers. Found that emotion regulation and emotion understanding made unique contributions to teacher ratings of children's emotional competence with peers. High pretend play levels related to high emotion understanding for both boys and girls, and high emotion regulation…

In this article, first I describe from observation the spontaneous vocalisations produced during free play by young children of 18 months to three-years-old. I propose that a focus on vocalisations can provide valuable insights into general aspects of children's play. Next I describe two musical play situations between toddlers and their mothers…