States the position of the National Association for the Education of Young Children on violence in children's programing. Presents research upon which the statement is based, as well as recommendations for policymakers, teachers, and parents. (PCB)

Female socialization, through the influence of gender as a social institution, acts as a powerful constraint on women's involvement in physical recreation. The contribution made to this socialization by young children's play behavior and the link between gender-role conformity and dual career women's lack of leisure are discussed. (IAH)

Integrating infants with visual impairments into playgroups for nonhandicapped infants and their parents has been successfully accomplished and offers benefits to both infants and parents. A model demonstration project, "Parents and Visually Impaired Infants Project," integrated infants into a community program involving play, music, and…

Describes learning activities based on the U.S. Constitution that enhance higher level thinking skills in elementary students. One activity proposes a hypothetical constitutional amendment banning Saturday cartoons; a second taxes children's earnings; and other activities focus on dramatizing events surrounding the Constitutional Convention. (LS)

Studied play development in 35 Down syndrome and 41 nonhandicapped young children during the transition from sensorimotor to representational functioning. During the transition, children with Down syndrome developed in a manner similar to that of nonhandicapped children, but at a slower pace. (RJC)

Discusses the importance of the outdoor play area for infant and toddler cognitive, physical and social development. Also discusses design, landscape and arrangement considerations for the play area. (RJC)

Describes learning that takes place during children's play. Scenarios involve a 15-month-old who tries to work keys into a sideboard, a 2 1/2-year-old who takes a truck from other children, and a 4-year-old who plays with blocks with other children. (RJC)

Reviews three books: (1) "A Practical Parent's Handbook on Teaching Children with Learning Disabilities" (Shelby Holley); (2) "Children Can't Wait: Reducing Delays for Children in Foster Care" (Katharine Cahn and Paul Johnson); and (3) "Transdisciplinary Play-Based Intervention: Guidelines for Developing a Meaningful…

The outdoor environment is a significant and essential component of curriculum for young children, having the potential to foster and extend all aspects of development. Children can experience a greater sense of freedom and nature than is generally possible indoors. Evidence suggests that early childhood teachers underestimate the importance of…

This study compared the cooperation, aggression, and wandering behavior of 12 first-grade children with severe to profound hearing losses with that of 12 hearing children. No significant differences were found in amounts cooperation, aggression, or wandering behavior displayed by the two groups. However, children with hearing loss changed…

Verb forms used by 14 4-year-olds in their pretend play were investigated in a study of the use of past verb forms to express "unreality." Results suggest that different past verb forms co-occur with different play activities; e.g., present perfect occurring when children implement their plans and communicate within an already…

Notes that a developmentally designed classroom environment supports children's individual and social development; encourages exploration, focused play, and cooperation; provides choices for children that support self-directed learning; and supports the caregiver-child relationship. Offers guidelines for a developmentally designed environment for…

This observational study examined 60 mothers' comments during play with their 4- to 8-month-old infants who had been either full-term, preterm well, or preterm sick. Mothers of sick preterm babies engaged in the most overall talking, mothers of full-term babies made the most negative remarks, and mothers of healthy preterm babies made the fewest…

Uses a cognitive approach to examine whether children's explicit and implicit knowledge about gender, influences the development and maintenance of gender segregation. Addresses the issue of variations in levels of gender segregation. (BAC)

Presents a "development-in-action" study, in which children's development is approached as a situated accomplishment, the product of adults' and children's interaction in everyday settings. Suggests that analysis of the play's cultural work helps to understand how everyday social activity reproduces the social order that conditions it…