This article offers a collection of commentary on work and play, including sources spanning some three centuries of American history. It is noted that the work ethic, in its various forms and shades, has perceptibly provided the leitmotif for the American experience in work and play. (JMK)

Analysis of videotaped mother interactions with 21 visually impaired and 16 nonhandicapped infants revealed that visually impaired infants demonstrated fewer periods of positive vocalization and responses, fewer social initiations, more negative vocalizations and periods of negative affect, and more ignoring of the mothers than did the controls.…

Training for six behaviorally handicapped preschoolers consisted of initial instructions, modeling, and behavioral rehearsal, followed by teacher prompts and praise regarding sharing directly in a classroom free play period. Introduction of training in a multiple baseline design across three pairs of children resulted in substantial increases in…

Examined effects of direct intervention on language learning. Using a toy manipulation task, 18 children aged 3;6 to 4;6 were systematically taught linguistic structures beyond their developmental grasp. Solid improvement was found in the experimental conditions; no significant improvement was noted in control conditions, showing that the language…

Out of his years of experience in working with children, Zingher identifies some of the powerful and evocative themes of childhood, and explores why these touch children so deeply. He encourages professionals who work with children in school, camp, club and library settings to consider using these themes to develop thoughtful and creative programs…

This brochure, developed by a manufacturer of wooden blocks and trains, offers advice on the selection and use of toy blocks with children. The guide asserts that blocks, while often thought of as the most simple of toys, have great strength as creativity builders. Topics discussed in the brochure include: "Why We Want Our Children to…

Designed for parents or teachers of young children with autism, this guide outlines the development stages in nonverbal or visual thinking, communication, imitation, and play in children with and without autism. In the section on nonverbal or visual thinking skills, the paper addresses simple sorting and matching, the purpose of sorting, and more…

This guidebook for early intervention personnel was developed by the "Let's Play! Project," a 3-year federally supported project that worked to promote play in infants and toddlers with disabilities through the use of "low-tech" assistive technology. An introductory section considers the importance of play for children of this age and is followed…

This study examined whether kindergarten-age children showed traditional gender role behaviors in their choice of play activities. Participating in the study were 9 boys and 11 girls, all 5 or 6 years old and attending the same kindergarten class in a middle size, suburban elementary school. Data on student choice behavior were gathered during the…

The role of play in the learning and development of young children has long been recognized by researchers and early childhood educators. Although research indicates that play does provide a context that supports and facilitates literacy learning, most research has focused on preschool or kindergarten children. The purpose of this study was to…

Recognizing the role of creative representation experiences in early childhood in developing a foundation for adult thinking skills, this booklet and accompanying videotape present six key experiences in creative representation in the High Scope Model: (1) recognizing objects by sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell; (2) imitating actions and…

This paper provides a brief literature review on the use of building blocks in the elementary school classroom and discusses classroom activities using blocks as they influence other subject areas. The paper includes work activities that develop mathematics and science skills, language arts and reading, and social sciences. Comments on these…

Focuses on the social functions of children's play, an activity that human beings in general create in which the person sees him or herself reflected in what is generated, which is authentic and, for the most part, presupposes equality. (Author/JM)

The National Capital Parks Service provides reenactments of the battle Antietam at its actual location in Sharpsburg, Maryland as a part of its program of living history