In this study, the heart rate response of children with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exposed to outdoor free play sessions during preschool was examined. Participants (n = 7; four children with ASD and three children who show typical development) wore Actiheart heart rate monitors during 6 school days. Using a single-subject design,…

In the 1980s, mixed ability or physically integrated dance companies, such as AXIS and DancingWheels, began with professional performance goals, aimed at producing highquality choreographic work involving individuals with and without disabilities. Those companies are pioneers in the integrated dance field and serve as beneficial models of…

For centuries, the titans of educational reform--Plato, Rousseau, Dewey, Piaget, Erikson, Csikszentmihalyi and others--have championed the educational benefits of play. Yet many professors and administrators are boggled by the idea of playing academic games in college. They instantly dismiss faculty initiatives like "Reacting to the…

This article describes a 60-minute classroom activity using LEGO® bricks that demonstrates and reinforces the importance of the managerial process. The activity, Plan Before You Play (PBP), is targeted to introductory business classes, and differs from others in that it requires little investment or up-front planning, is easily scalable, and, with…

Many Western countries around the world have been reviewing policy and practice aimed at enhancing the quality and professional practice of early childhood education. The response has been to establish government-sanctioned curriculum frameworks based on current research and the dominant discourses of educational provision. The successful…

The article explores how young children between one and three years old communicate and prioritise values in order to create and be a part of a community during play sessions in an Icelandic preschool. Furthermore, it aims to investigate the value conflicts that might occur and how the children resolve such conflicts. The study adopts the…

The aim of this study was to investigate children's social communication abilities and play to reveal possible changes during a one year period in the context of Finnish early childhood special education. The data we collected during 2012-2013 consisted of assessments of play behaviour (Preschool Play Behavior Scale) and social communication…

Today, technology in the form of tablet computers (e.g. iPads) is crucial as a tool for learning and education. Tablets support educational activities such as archiving, word processing, and generation of academic products. They also connect with the Internet, providing access to news, encyclopaedic entries, and e-books. In addition, tablets have…

This study investigated whether European American and Japanese mothers' speech to preschoolers contained exchange- and alignment-oriented structures that reflect and possibly support culture-specific models of self-other relatedness. In each country 12 mothers were observed in free play with their 3-year-olds. Maternal speech was coded for…

Introduction: As the number of people with visual impairments (that is, those who are blind or have low vision) is continuously increasing, rehabilitation and engineering researchers have identified the need to design sensory-substitution devices that would offer assistance and guidance to these people for performing navigational tasks. Auditory…

Research Findings: In Study 1, we observed 32 Chinese kindergarteners playing a number board game with their caregivers in dyads. Number board game playing provided important opportunities for kindergarteners and their caregivers to talk about an array of number concepts, but their numeracy-related exchanges rarely went beyond counting. In Study…

Research Findings: The primary purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between social play and involvement in the outdoor preschool environment. The study included 173 children ranging in age from 3 to 6 years (M[subscript age] = 3.95, SD = 0.82) and attending 19 preschools in the Basque Country (Spain). A total of 51 teachers…

In this study we argue that a focus on language learning ecologies, that is, situations for participation in various communicative practices, can shed light on the intricate processes through which minority children develop or are constrained from acquiring cultural and linguistic competencies (here, of a majority language). The analysis draws on…

This article contextualizes the dark sides of play from a cultural-historical perspective using Fraser's theory of social justice based on the concepts of recognition and redistribution. Through a micro-ethnographic analysis of a kindergarten's daily life and play situations between 2 five-year-old girls, the article describes the dark play from a…

Research Findings: Drawing from a Dutch sample of 113 Dutch children (M age = 37 months, SD = 3.5) from 37 early care and education classrooms (19 child care centers and 18 preschools), this study examined whether the relation between classroom emotional and behavioral support and children's observed social integration and positive mood in a play…