A discussion of two responsibilities of teachers and educators: (1) to enrich the quality of play in the early childhood classrooms; and (2) to help parents understand and accept the play situation as a learning environment. (SDH)

Presented for parents of handicapped children is a listing of approximately 600 references. The books in the first section deal with the following five topics relevant to all handicaps: basic information; home teaching and playing techniques; experiences of other parents; and current issues such as advocacy, employment, prevention, and sex…

Described for parents and teachers of children 3- to 8-years-old (handicapped and nonhandicapped) are 50 easily constructed homemade learning games. It is explained that the games may be especially helpful in classrooms where handicapped children are mainstreamed with nonhandicapped children. Arranged alphabetically by title, each entry provides…

Solidly based experimental and experiential evidence indicates that play can serve as a powerful support and energizer in the early childhood education curriculum. (CS)

This paper is based on an ethno-semantic study of the development, use, and intersection of the adult and child activity domains of work and play. The author draws from Piaget's genetic epistemology and uses Gearing's ethnographic approach presented in SO 504 073. Availability information is given in SO 504 073. (Author/RM)

Major attention is given to the relationships between behaving organisms and the information in their environments. Case studies are examined that involve deliberate design of relationships between people and information that increase opportunities for learning. (Author/MLF)

Based on a paper presented at the 1968 annual meeting of the American Orthopsychiatric Assoc.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of group size on toddlers' peer interactions and social interactions with mothers. In particular, the study sought to answer the following questions: (1) When both mothers and peers are available to the child, with whom does he/she prefer to play? and (2) Are there differences in the types of…

This guidebook provides an empirically-based set of planning and design guidelines for the construction of winter play facilities for Canadian youth residing in locations where outdoor play in winter is curtailed for approximately 4 months of the year. Information used in developing the guidelines was derived from field observations, a literature…

By participating in their children's imaginative play or pretending, parents may be able to understand better their children's feelings, resolve parent-child conflicts, communicate parental values, and build parent-child relationships based on mutual respect. Many people seem to believe that pretending appears automatically in young children, that…

The findings and recommendations of a study of potential opportunities to convert under-utilized space in multiple residential projects into play spaces for children are reported. On the basis of site visits, informal interviews and discussions with management from a selected and representative sample of 18 residential projects in the Toronto…

First listing and discussing optimal features of playthings for early childhood education, this reference book subsequently describes play activities and equipment appropriate for infant and toddler day care programs as well as specially designed equipment for exceptional children. A chart indicating age-appropriate play and classroom equipment…