Suggests that banning superhero play is not most effective means of dealing with children's exposure to inappropriate television. Maintains that valid data on possible increases in classroom superhero play are not available, superhero play may fulfill some developmental functions, and superhero play may provide an opportunity to teach about values…

Reports on an intervention for labeled children (N=6) in elementary schools that engaged them in nondirective child-centered play therapy sessions. Results indicate that the therapy provided the children the opportunities to express feelings, experience control, and develop coping skills. Claims that play therapy provides labeled children with the…

Reports on a technique that combines Adlerian therapy with adventure therapy to provide a therapeutic milieu that blends play with self-growth. Results, based on six brief interventions conducted with 42 fifth-grade students, indicate that both statistical significance and therapeutic efficacy were achieved by these interventions. (RJM)

Investigated associations between expressive language and symbolic play in deaf children with deaf parents or with hearing parents, and hearing children with hearing parents. Defined three language level groups. Hearing status was associated with duration of symbolic play. Higher language levels were associated with more canonically sequenced and…

Five experiments investigated whether children, ages three to eight, think of pretending as a mental state. Results indicated that most children under six see pretending as primarily physical. Eight-year-olds claimed that execution of pretense did not involve the mind, although the planning aspect of pretense did. (MOK)

Investigated effects of depressed mothers' touching on their infants' behavior during still-face situation. Subjects were 48 mothers and their 3-month-old infants. Findings suggested that by providing touch stimulation for their infants, depressed mothers can increase infants' positive affect and compensate for negative effects often resulting…

Analyzes play discourse participation frameworks in groups of different gender and age compositions, focusing on different ways that children "voice" a pretend play role. Uses a preschool classroom for an observational study. Finds significant differences in voicing used by older and younger play groups. Discusses results with respect to the…

Childhood play and adolescent leisure preferences were solicited from 168 predominantly white undergraduates who also completed the Bem Sex Role Inventory and rated the amount of time spent playing with same- and opposite-sex siblings. There was evidence of more stereotyped preferences by those with same-sex siblings. (SLD)

The second of two articles on play reviews the construct of play and its development in typically developing infants, toddlers, and young children. It considers developmental levels of play from early sensorimotor-exploratory to symbolic play involving the functional components of agent, instrument, and scheme. A developmentally based,…

Observed 10-, 26-, and 42-month-olds playing under several distraction conditions to describe development of attention and distractibility. Found that casual attention decreased and focused attention increased with age. Ten-month-olds were more distractible than older children, even during focused attention. Infants were most distracted by the…

Argues that there is no absolute standard for defining high-quality early childhood education and care and that current approaches to effective teaching/learning are of limited value in defining standards for effective early education. Explores from a Vygotskian perspective play as a format for children's activities, concluding that effective…

Examined effect of a year-long implementation of a classroom rule in kindergarten classrooms disallowing overt exclusion among classmates. Found that observations and teacher reports did not differ between the six target and four control classes. However, children in target classes reported that they liked each other significantly more at year…

A study examined the cognitive underpinnings of spontaneous and prompted pretend play in 28 children with autism (ages 2-3), 24 children with developmental disorders, and 26 controls (ages 1-3). Children with autism were significantly delayed on pretend play scores. They also had significant deficits in a theory of mind measure. (Contains…

This synthesis reviewed the findings of 13 intervention studies, published between 1975-1999, that examined the effects of manipulation of toys or group composition on social behaviors of children (ages 3-5) with disabilities. Positive outcomes were associated with children's playing with social toys and playgroups that included typical children.…

Investigated effects of older siblings on imitation by 12-, 15-, and 18-month-olds. Found that all age groups acquired one to two new behaviors per day through imitation. Older infants imitated more multi-step sequences and substituted more objects during reenactment than younger. Compared to infants without siblings, infants with siblings…