This collection of papers, nineteenth in a series of 20 documents completed by the Children's Environments Advisory Service for the International Year of the Child, 1979, reports on the proceedings of an international symposium held by The Child in the City Programme at the University of Toronto under UNESCO sponsorship, in June 1979. Delegates…

Teacher reinforcement of indoor play equipment utilization was employed as a procedure to increase the peer social interaction of an asocial four-year-old female child. Touching peers, using peers' names, verbalizations, solitary or parallel manipulation, cooperative construction, and cooperative thematic play were dependent variables. Treatment…

This longitudinal study of the development of nonverbal behavior in the first 3 years of a child's life focuses on four factors: the relation between physical and vocal interaction between the child and his mother, observed cuses which can be used to interpret the child's communicative intent at different age levels, frequency of occurrence and…

This study investigated the relationship between cognitive style and the use of play areas in the nursery school. The participants were 28 preschool children (13 girls and 15 boys) attending the Laboratory Nursery School at the University of California at Davis. Each child was observed for 12 one-hour sessions over a 10-week period. A time…

This paper reports an exploratory investigation of motor patterns characteristic of maternal gameplaying behavior conducted with forty-eight 4-, 6- and 8-month-old infants and their mothers. Videotapes of 6-minute laboratory mother-infant play sessions were segmented into maternal games which were categorized according to the type and complexity…

Playfulness, a personality trait consisting of sense of humor, manifest joy, and spontaneity, was demonstrated to relate to divergent thinking at the kindergarten and high-school levels. The differential valence given to it by kindergarten-teachers and JHS- and HS-teachers was discussed in relation to creative potential. There was a consensus of…

A report on adventure or "junk" playgrounds--areas that provide opportunities for children to build, dig, and play with materials under their own direction--begins with brief sections on the establishment of the original playground in Copenhagen, and the first American experiment, in Minneapolis, in 1950. The main body of the report is…

This book is a collection of the papers presented at the fifth International Interdisciplinary Conference on Piagetian Theory and the Helping Professions, held at the University of Southern California on January 24, 1975. The conference was sponsored by University Affiliated Program at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles; 44 papers are included.…

This paper presents a framework useful for preschool and elementary teachers in developing a basic understanding of competency and play and their interrelationship. Specific guidelines are given for observing and planning toward increasing opportunities for competency and play. Competency is viewed as consisting of growth, risk-taking, and a…

An analysis of the ideas of John Locke and Benjamin Spock examines two questions: (1) authors' popularity in their own lifetimes, and (2) congruence and change in American conceptions of child rearing over two centuries. Comparisons of Locke's "Some Thoughts Concerning Education" and Spock's "Common Sense Book of Baby and Child…

This collection of articles presents ideas about the value of children's play and suggests practical ways to implement good play experiences and select appropriate play materials. Articles examine play as an agent of social values, play and thinking, play and child development, the environmental opportunities for play factors that can destroy the…

Presented in this pamphlet are some guidelines to help parents develop a responsive, flexible parent-child relationship. Based on recent child development theory, this easy-to-read pamphlet offers practical suggestions for developing good self-concept, responsibility, self-confidence, self-discipline, resourcefulness, decision-making and…

During an experiment on infant behavior, it was observed that young children shared toys with their mothers; therefore, a series of research studies was designed to investigate this phenomenon. The general purposes of the research were: (1) to define sharing more precisely and develop objective measures of frequency and duration for it, (2) to…

These curriculum guides are designed to introduce drama to students at the third and fourth grade level. The teacher's guide for each of the two grade levels presents 40 lessons. Each lesson includes a description of objectives and various exercises, including movement warm-ups, movement exercises, imagination exercises, composition assignments,…

Creative methods of communicating with young children are discussed. In order to communicate through talk, adults must realize that children have a "secret world" with their own language and reasoning and must respect it. Self awareness, patience, understanding, and consistency are necessary for adults to truly communicate with children through…