Strong oral language skills are foundational for literacy development and begin before a child enters formal schooling. Oral language development has been related to pretend play abilities in children. Children, particularly those from disadvantaged areas, who enter school with low pretend play levels and oral language abilities, are at risk for…

This mixed-methods study investigated the effects of a traditional play program (TPP) on 48 children's emotional intelligence (EQ), social ability (SA), and self-esteem (SE), important skills for children's overall well-being and development. The participants were recruited from two child welfare centers (CCs) and divided into experimental and…

This paper examines how teachers in the Indonesian context create motivating conditions for children's learning and development. Sixteen hours of digital visual observations on 38 children (mean age 4.4 years) were selected from a larger dataset of video observations, focus group discussions, and teacher interviews. Using the cultural-historical…

We investigated the dynamic relationships between children's risky play attempts in a naturalistic setting, their injury experience, and their self-control ability. To test this, we administered surveys to 862 mothers of 3- to 5-year-olds. The results showed that children who tried more diverse types of risky play experienced more injuries in…

The aim of this study was to explore dramatic play processes from a Marxist-Feminist perspective as a context in which preschool children express their understanding of gender and related issues. This qualitative study utilized critical discourse analysis to focus on the meaning created among children through their interaction while playing. The…

This article describes how preschool-age children can engage with recipes as a genre for reading, writing, and play. This formative/design study was conducted by a teacher researcher partnership in a linguistically and socioeconomically diverse public early learning center. Through home engagements, the research team identified cooking as a site…

Following a report from the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child Monitoring Group in 2017 noting that in Aotearoa New Zealand children's views were not being sought in matters regarding their school, play and feelings of safety, the Children's Commissioner conducted research with school-aged children seeking their related…

Background: Studies assessing the effects of parenting programs have focused on interventions delivered through face-to-face modalities. There is a need for research to evaluate the effects of online parenting programs on child development, such as the BEM Program ('Play Teaches Change' in English), an online play-based parenting program that…

The literature review examines collaboration across disciplinary and professional boundaries within playful learning in higher education. This objective is motivated by expanding the research literature on characteristics, potentials, and challenges in the intersections between boundary-crossing collaboration, playful learning, and higher…

To make it through the Indian school system, children need to be resilient and feel at ease in learning--qualities that children from poorer backgrounds often lack. As a result, one in four children does not complete primary school. One way to address this issue is by preparing children for school through early childhood education, which can have…

Early learning agendas are currently being introduced in early childhood education and care (ECEC) by transnational organizations such as the EU and OECD. In this paper, we focus on Denmark, where such agendas interweave with a pedagogical tradition emphasizing a child-centered approach and children's play. Based on ethnographic research, we…

Building a more comprehensive understanding of gaming literacies, this article explores the kinds of literacy practices that emerge through participation and play within escape rooms. Based on a dataset of video recordings of participant interactions within an escape room, we perform side-by-side analyses of play based on two theoretical…

While children's rights "to" play is stated in the UNCRC, this study investigates children's rights "in" play through an analysis of narrative play in preschool. Play-responsive early childhood education and care (PRECEC) is a recently developed theory that provides analytical tools for investigating participants' communicative…

The effect of gamified elements among adult learners in online post-secondary education classrooms is essential to determining the needs of each learner and if they vary from generation to generation and affect their playful experience and academic success. The gap in research exists as this is yet to be determined. The research questions tested…

This paper is the result of an action research project that aimed to understand how to support family play experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through grounded theory interviews and analysis, underpinned by an ethics of care, schools were revealed as important providers of community care for children through their offerings as spaces where…