Research Findings: Engineering play is a new framework for understanding constructive block building as a design process. The current study examined associations between engineering play with wooden unit blocks and mathematics and spatial skills of children with and without disabilities. Participants included 110 preschoolers (44% female; 25%…

Background: Pretend play is a form of play that involves nonliteral actions. There are limited studies reporting the developmental trends of pretend play behaviours of typically developing pre-schoolers. This knowledge would be beneficial in the early identification of deviations in pre-schoolers who have or are at risk of developing developmental…

This study sought an answer to the question whether the digitalization of play is technological mutation or digital evolution. To this end, 14 studies published over the last five years were reviewed and discussed under four themes, namely digital technology and children, parents', and teachers' perceptions of digital technology, screen effects,…

Background: Parenting strategies such as communicating clear expectations, providing calm directions, and teaching specific skills can strengthen young children's social-emotional development. Parenting programs for children with disruptive behavior often emphasize gaining compliance via effective directives, and less on how to facilitate child…

Many governments have launched the top-down early childhood curriculum (ECC) reforms to enhance the accountability of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services. The present discourse analysis of latest ECC policies across four diverse but representative countries -- Australia, China, New Zealand, and Singapore -- aims to examine the…

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of 8 weeks of Pokémon GO on physical fitness (cardiorespiratory fitness [CRF], Speed/Agility [S/A], and muscular strength [MS]) and fatness (body mass index [BMI], percentage of body fat [%BF], and waist-hip index), as well as possible differences between weekly physical activity (PA)…

The enrolment of Chinese middle-class children in elite international kindergartens is a big education industry in China. Our paper is situated in the broader sociology of elite schooling which has yet to fully explore how middle and upper middle-class parents are increasingly sending their children to elite international kindergartens. We present…

This small-scale study aims to explore acceptance and preference dilemmas in choosing playmates with physical disability of typically developing 6-8-year-old Cypriot children. Eighteen participants were interviewed individually in a simple process involving scenarios and questions with the use of images of hypothetical peers with and without…

Learning to regulate aggressive impulses is a significant developmental milestone for preschoolers. To date, there is no consensus about whether rough-and-tumble play (RTP) is positively or negatively related to the regulation of aggression. This study examined the relation of RTP with children's levels of emotion regulation and aggression. RTP of…

Standards and their corresponding assessments have continued to narrow English language arts (ELA) curricula, pushing more playful, creative composition to the margins or to out-of-school pursuits. Simultaneously, students enjoy writing creatively in many extracurricular spaces and activities, like fanfiction. Building from research showing that…

There is a consensus that individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) fall short of the recommended 60-minute daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and some experience motor delays and abnormalities. Yet ASD interventions focusing on addressing these challenges are insufficient in the existing literature. Research evidence…

This article describes what happened when a group of middle school teacher-researchers at the International School of Billund (ISB), Denmark, joined university-based researchers from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, to engage in a new qualitative methodology called "Playful Participatory Research" or PPR (Baker & Davila…

This research focuses on how practitioners in two Norwegian kindergartens interact with children during free play. The purpose of the study is to draw attention to the way the practitioners supported children's learning through their interactions with children during free play. Through naturalistic observations of 17 practitioners, results…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often demonstrate deficits in spontaneous language during play and other social interactions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of an instructional procedure that could be used during play to increase tacts by three 4-year-old children with ASD. A multiple-probe across behaviors…

The concept of nature and how humans relate to nature provide the framework for this philosophical discussion on challenges facing the evolving field of early childhood environmental education. Posthumanistic thinking is proposed as an alternative to what is perpetuated through a more typical Western approach to education. This Western approach…