It is a typical day at the famous fish market in Bergen, Norway. Vendors wrapped in rain coats huddle under white tents, selling everything from shrimp to flowers to handmade souvenirs. Some tables are stacked with salmon and herring, while others feature baskets of berries and fresh fruits. Families out for their household grocery shopping are…

DataPlay is a research project inspired by the concept of a "ludic age" (Chaplin & Zimmerman, 2008), where the challenges of extracting knowledge from the "data deluge" of the information age (Economist, 2010) are met with game-based approaches to information design. This paper examines Mannahatta: The Game in order to…

An adult-like concept of intention includes a deliberate action to achieve a goal and a belief that one's action (if successful) will cause the desired outcome. For example, good outcomes caused by accident or by chance are not believed to be caused intentionally. In two experiments, we asked whether children understand this connection between…

Play is a natural activity of early childhood, which has great relevance to the fields of early intervention, early childhood special education, and early childhood education. Within these fields, ongoing tensions persist in how play is described and used. These tensions compromise activities of assessment, intervention, and curriculum development…

Previous research suggests that the actions of a confederate can alter participants' gambling behavior. In the present experiment, male participants played Blackjack either alone or in the presence of a confederate. The confederate either quit early in the session or played for the entire session. Across sessions in which the confederate played…

Serious games are seen to hold potential to facilitate workplace learning in a more dynamic and flexible way. This article describes an empirical study into the feasibility of an online collaboration game that facilitates teachers-in-training to deal with classroom management dilemmas. A script to support these students in carrying out such…

It is a challenge for an early education teacher to enhance the development of self-regulation of young children to become and stay motivated for tasks that elicit school-related skills that do not immediately make sense for them. Being aware of motivational orientations in young students is therefore a must. In the study, a cross-cultural…

Beyond the standard definitions found in the dictionary, words commonly used in the recreation field have subtle, yet powerful connotations of which senders and receivers of information may not be consciously aware. These words elicit different conscious and subconscious reactions that likely bear significant consequences for recreation agencies…

The social situation of development (SSD) specific to each age determines regularly the whole picture of the child's life. Therefore, we need to learn about the whole context surrounding children relevant to their development. The focus of the study is to understand parent's views on infant-toddler's science concept formation in the family…

Boys are more physically active than girls and the greatest gender difference in children's physical activity is found in institutional settings such as school recess. However, research on gender relations, performances and practices that maintain gendered differences in physical activity during recess is still limited. Drawing on a qualitative…

This self-study of pretend gunplay in my Transitional Kindergarten (TK) classroom was designed to guide me in not only improving my practice within the classroom, but also informing the development of sound classroom policies related to pretend gun-and-weapons play that balance children's developmental needs with my commitment to peace and…

Children with autism spectrum disorders display atypical development of gesture production, and gesture impairment is one of the determining factors of autism spectrum disorder diagnosis. Despite the obvious importance of this issue for children with autism spectrum disorder, the literature on gestures in autism is scarce and contradictory. The…

Background: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may exhibit delayed play skills or repetitive play and have difficulty engaging in spontaneous play with peers. Method: A multiple-probe design across participants was used to investigate the effectiveness of a video modelling intervention and the use of children's special interests on their…

Research shows that Looked After Children (LAC) may experience emotional instability which can reduce their capacity to engage with education. This study evaluates an attachment based therapeutic Theraplay® intervention designed to bridge the gap between the emotional well-being of LAC and their engagement in education. Twenty LAC between the ages…

In an online graduate-level early childhood education course, the authors sought to playfully disrupt and transform educators' conceptions of children's "dark play," as provoked by contemporary popular culture. Embracing the imaginative potential of darkness and liminality, the course participants problematized and expanded their…