Nine- to 16-month-old infants explored pairs of novel toys in 2 conditions: violated expectation, in which the first toy produced an interesting nonobvious property and the second toy did not; and interest control, in which neither toy produced the interesting property. Infants persistently attempted to reproduce the interesting property in the…

Observed the play of 56 dyads of infants who were unfamiliar with each other. Infants were paired according to their ability to recognize themselves in a mirror. Synchronic imitation, or playing with the same toy in similar ways, occurred in nearly all dyads whose members recognized themselves. (BC)

"Original" play denotes play that is pre-cultural--before conceptualizations and learned responses. Four anecdotes about play with an infant with Down's syndrome, a child with leukemia, a lioness, and a dying woman illustrate the connections between beings and between the ordinary and the sacred during trusting, fearless, playful encounters. (SV)

Children now play more solitary games, perhaps missing benefits of traditional games such as jacks, marbles, and dominoes. Such games offer children of all backgrounds the opportunity to consolidate knowledge and skills, develop a more orderly way of thinking, and establish themselves with peers. By making these games available in classrooms,…

Presents suggested play activities for parents to do with infants from birth to 12 months that stimulate the infant's senses, encourage exploration, and satisfy security needs. Activities, games, and songs are described for birth to 2 months, 3 to 6 months, 6 to 9 months, and 10 to 12 months. (KB)

Thirty teachers and 20 5- to 7-year olds viewed videos of playground fighting episodes. Teachers reported difficulty in distinguishing between playful and real fighting; 30% thought playful fighting was twice as frequent as real. They tended to agree with children on the nature of the episodes but used a wider range of cues in making judgments.…

"Play" with computer applications is form of self-directed, experiential learning. This learning results in improved mental models of applications; application use for work tasks further refines the models. Application play may benefit organizations that invest considerable resources in technology training. (SK)

When children are invited to learn as they play, explore, discover, and celebrate, the commitment is being fulfilled to preserve and protect their birthright--a joyful education. In this brief column, the author relates the story of four-year-old Jackson. Jackson arrives in class excited at the prospect of visiting his Grandma after school. During…

This research investigates the development of symbolic or representational play in two species of the genus "Pan", bonobos ("Pan paniscus") and chimpanzees ("Pan troglodytes"). The participants varied not only by species, but also as to whether they had become proficient in communicating with humans via a set of arbitrary visual symbols, called…

Theme parks can have educational value for students and teachers when these cultural sites within the range of visual culture are understood as sites of experiential learning and as processes of mediation between visitors and park designers. Worthy of serious study, the theme park can be explored as a cultural vortex whose swirling forces…

Children constantly encounter signs during cultural practices, although many theories do not fully acknowledge sociocultural aspects of semiotic development. The author examines research on cultural practices and contexts in which children learn to produce signs involving representational drawing and pretend play. This work is contrasted with more…

There is considerable agreement that vocabulary plays a central role in reading acquisition, but there is less agreement about whether this association is direct or indirect through phonological and print-related knowledge. Longitudinal data from 77 African-American children were analyzed to examine the relationship between language skills,…

In this article Hannah Mortimer explores how even very young children can be consulted and included when planning for their education and needs. This allows early years practitioners to ensure that the children they support have equal opportunities, feel involved and successful in their learning and play, and are given activities and interventions…

The early childhood profession needs to establish a different discourse to describe what has been referred to as "play" in early childhood. The authors draw from literature on inquiry theory to provide a theoretical lens for discussion and offer a model for inquiry through the Project Approach for the early childhood setting. The authors posit…

This article examines the life of Friedrich Froebel, the founder of the kindergarten movement and his first 10 "gifts to children." The author suggests that Froebel's philosophy of German Romanticism caused the waning use of his methods. He continues to state that Froebel's development of instructional material and structured play-based curricula…