Over a 2-year period, observed the play of 6 mentally handicapped children who were 2-3 years old at the start of the study. Measured children's behaviors that related to displacing objects, finding and locating objects, and using language. Found that the sequence of the children's development of object knowledge and early language was similar to…

Examines the changing needs for early childhood education, arguing that the ideal curriculum should have a developmentally appropriate, hands-on, multisensory approach to learning and should include play. Explores several innovative multigenerational approaches to the complex problems of quality and affordability in early childhood programs. (HTH)

Play for Peace brings children of conflicting cultures together through cooperative play. Partner organizations and volunteers in areas such as the Balkans and urban Chicago support the training of teenage facilitators, who learn through experience how to facilitate cooperative, noncompetitive games for children aged 6-10. (SV)

Argues that literacy and pretend play are both representational activities that are facilitated in natural environments with sufficient literate materials and opportunities to play. Discusses similarity of process in symbolic play and literacy, and looks at their content. Describes literacy materials and teachers' roles that foster literacy and…

This study compared the social-communicative performance of six preschool children with developmental delays during free play in both mainstream and reverse-integration program settings. Neither setting appeared to promote adequate rates of initiating and responding. The use of attention-getting devices increased the number of successful…

This naturalistic study examined the classroom collaborative play activities of nine preschoolers with hearing impairments and language delays, but without sign-language skills. Findings indicated the children constructed collaborative play episodes which incorporated role, action, and object transformations using a nonverbal metacommunication…

Examined the nature of conflicts among young preschoolers. Observed 184 three-year-olds in a dyadic play situation. Found that children's conflicts arose in the context of ongoing play and were brief. Concluded that by age 36 months, most children have acquired the skills to play positively with a peer. (JS)

Notes that recess in elementary education is filled with struggles and crises; presents suggestions for playground education and guidance. Suggests that teachers can implement children's prosocial playground behavior by presenting a repertoire of acceptable games to play and tools for game organization, providing support on the playground, keeping…

Investigated the impact of the outdoor-learning environment on play behaviors and peer relationships of second graders with different levels of physical competence. Found that playground design influenced children's social- and physical-skill development by facilitating or constraining the strategies they used to manage their play with peers. A…

Investigated leisure-activity correlates for German adolescents. Found that risky leisure was related to West Germany residency, higher childhood competitive play/creative activities, and lower parental monitoring. Social-romantic leisure was related to being female and higher competitive play. Creative-introspective leisure was associated with…

Describes a collaborative compensatory program for at-risk kindergarten, first-, and second-grade students, in which literature, drama, music, and movement are woven together into miniperformances that develop and support literacy learning. Discusses the process of developing a miniperformance, and lists suggested books with stories for…

This article discusses teaching higher-level thinking skills and concentration to students with disabilities through chess instruction. Guidelines for chess instruction are provided, including: teaching ideas and strategy first rather than specific lines of play, using a variety of instructional modalities, and building in reinforcement for…

Examined the extent to which women's childhood play activities predicted future sport participation. College athletes and nonathletes completed a survey on childhood play and adult sports experiences. Playing with masculine toys and games, playing in predominantly male or mixed groups, and being a tomboy characterized women who later became…

Demonstrates how play can be the catalyst to undertake mathematics. Presents 15 activities on different mathematical subjects such as geometry. (ASK)

Used observations and theory of mind interviews to examine the impact of a program to increase the complexity of shared pretend play in 4-year-olds. Found that the amount and complexity of shared pretense increased for the play training group and performance on theory-of-mind tasks significantly improved for the play training group but not for the…