Educational simulation plays facilitate real experiences in a safe environment and, therefore, are appropriate for gaining a better sense of the dynamic relationships at work in complex environments, for exploring good fits and practical solutions, and for understanding how mistakes occur, mainly when plays, built upon an explicit or implicit…

The author argues that play always occurs within a social context and in relation to the various cultures that coexist within the classroom and the school setting. She uses Vygotsky's definition of play as dramatic or make-believe play for preschool children, and she applies Vygotskian and post-Vygotskian theories, including Daniil Elkonin's…

Educational video games often engage students intuitively with visuals with quick, responsive actions to immerse students in authentic disciplinary practice. In contrast, typical formal learning environments engage students in conscious reflection with visual representations to understand underlying disciplinary concepts. Research has examined how…

People, the author holds, instinctively believe quitting a game to be a simple choice: you are either playing or you are not. But she finds quitting play more complex. To understand better the whole ecosystem of play, she maps out the reasons Finnish players abandon or reduce their gaming and examines these reasons through the lens of specific…

The authors examined technological and traditional infant toys to understand the U.S. toy market facing today's care givers. They found significant differences in the two types of toys in terms of their developmental targets--with more traditional toys aimed at physical development and more technological toys aimed at cognitive development. Given…

The theorisation of digital technologies for play-based settings has received a great deal of attention. However, less is known about how zoom modalities, which are increasingly becoming commonplace at work and in the home, have impacted on the play of children in Family Day Care. Whilst theoretical attention has been given to conceptualising…

Possessing sufficient social skills is a crucial aspect of child development. The level of social skill that a child has is a strong predictor of their future behavioral functioning and academic achievement. Due to the impact social skills have on a child's later life, having a better understanding of how to enhance social development is…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience social communication difficulties which can be compounded by increased social demands and expectations of the school environment. Play offers a unique context for social communication development in educational settings. This systematic review aimed to synthesize play-based interventions for…

This article presents explorations of co-choreographing the early years dance pedagogical settings through dialogical and intra-active approaches in the context of artistic research. It discusses how to choreograph the pedagogical settings in such a manner, that the distribution of the artistic agency would become more equal, and the complex…

The current study endeavors to assess the impact of the Preschool Executive Functions Intervention Program (PEFIP) on children's executive functions. A quasi-experimental design was employed, encompassing both pre-test and post-test assessments within a control group, complemented by follow-up evaluations over a 5-week period. The sample comprises…

Background: People with Down syndrome (DS) are predisposed to challenges with executive functions (EF), which are crucial for adaptive outcomes and academic success. Early interventions targeting EF are therefore critical. The present study analysed Italian data on the acceptability, enjoyability and household implementation of EXPO (EXecutive…

Developing an inclusive learning environment in early childhood education (ECE) is vital because it prepares children for future success in school and society by recognising and responding to their differences. The objective of the present study was to explore the mediational effect of student engagement (SE) between the relationship of inclusive…

Play is a central feature of childhood and a fundamental right of all children. Currently, our understanding of autistic play is based on a deficit perspective, most often framed in comparison to neurotypical 'norms' and assumptions where the views of the players themselves have been overlooked. In moving towards a strengths-based neuroaffirmative…

This book explores analogue game-based learning in the context of the Anthropocene, addressing an urgent need for educational approaches beyond traditional scholastic boundaries. In the context of a complex world, the book emphasises the inadequacies of current educational methods and the potential of game-based learning to foster collective…

This study aimed to explore the literacy interactions of deaf and hearing parents with their preschool children in Saudi Arabia. The participants were three sets of parents (six individuals) of preschoolers. Data were collected through home literacy observation, experience sampling method, and interviews. All participants endorsed learning through…