Unlock the magic of fingerplays and transform your early childhood classroom with this essential guide bridging research and practice. While many books compile fingerplays and action rhymes, few explore their rich history or the science behind their impact on early literacy and social development. This groundbreaking guide offers teachers and…

The development of early childhood teachers' professional competence aims to equip them with accurate knowledge and understanding of learning management, as well as the ability to effectively organize learning experiences. The researcher is therefore interested in developing the professional competence of kindergarten teachers in rural areas with…

This article discusses the pedagogical role of the imagination and forms of life in Sámi early childhood education. Following Nergård's development of Wittgenstein's notion "form of life" as an imaginative, pedagogical, and anthropological concept, the article will explore how Sámi children both use and transform forms of life in…

Observed parental sensitivity during a parent-child teaching task and free-play task was tested as mediators of the association between family socioeconomic risk and child receptive language at 48 months, consistent with family investment theory. Parents (n = 881 mothers; 624 fathers, data collected between 2006-2008) and their 5-month-old…

This conceptual article argues that although imagination is a highly important dynamic of the mind with strong potential to assist language development, imagination alone does not work by itself. Instead, a strategic framework is needed to support imagination by connecting it with playful teaching and amusing content. The article begins by…

Play is linked to healthy child development and is recognised in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. School breaktimes provide regular opportunities for children to play, and as such, they have been the context of a large and interdisciplinary body of research on play. Play research has diverse aims and cuts across many academic…

The present study investigated early childhood education and care (ECEC) teachers' practices when they were engaged in play with children aged 2 to 3 years old. Both in a Norwegian context and internationally the number of younger children in ECEC is increasing, and there is a need for knowledge about what characterizes high-quality teacher…

Although exploratory play is considered a hallmark of cognitive development and learning, relatively few studies have been able to quantitatively characterize the shifts that may occur in children's approach to exploration. One reason for this gap is due to challenges coding and analyzing children's exploratory play behavior. In our paper, we…

Children experience a range of emotions during their time in primary school; however, bereavement is both unique and challenging. This book seeks to enable adults working with children to be prepared for this part of life's journey and ready to support the child affected by the death of their loved one. This accessible book explores topics that…

Capturing the subtle and nuanced behaviours of very young children to honour their 'voice' in research is an ongoing methodological challenge. This paper details the evolution of a framework developed by the researchers in response to understanding the peer-to-peer relationshipss of infants and toddlers when engaging with digital technologies in…

This study examines how structured yet flexible activities can cultivate pupils' oral creativity in a primary English as a foreign language classroom. A six-week action research intervention with sixteen Year-4 learners (ages 10-11) combined group-dynamics work with creativity-focused speaking tasks. Data from questionnaires, focus-group…

A Lego Serious Play (LSP) - based exercise was developed to support student engagement with learning consolidation at the end of a first-year undergraduate cell biology course. The exercise was offered in addition to a regular revision session in preparation for the summative exam. Students were studying four-year BSc (Hons) degrees in: Animal…

This article reviews pretend play and its impact on and association with children's language. Studies have shown the significant relationship between the two domains; however, more intervention research needs conducting to validate the causal impact of pretend play. Nevertheless, several studies exploring its effects on early language reported…

Humor is a central feature of close and intimate relationships in childhood. However, fundamental questions regarding the relationship between humor production, pretend play, and social understanding have been overlooked. In a selected subsample from a prospective longitudinal study of first-born children (N = 110, M age = 6.91 years, 46.4%…

The aim of this study is to examine the parents' perceptions about outdoor play through metaphors. The study is conducted with 107 parents, 96 mothers and 11 fathers, with children between 0-72 months. The data has been collected via an online questionnaire. Parents completed the prompt "Playing outside is like…Because..." to indicate…