This article describes the responses of academic researchers and teachers to Vygotsky's paper on play, published in Russian in 1966 and, in a new translation, in the present issue of this journal. That paper has had a major influence on research in play both in Russia and in the West. Its cultural-historical view of the development of play, and…

The current study investigates the influence of situational context on perceptions of playful aggression. Using an online data collection instrument embedded with video vignettes showing young boys engaged in aggressive play behaviour, 36 situational profiles that are defined by the unique combinations of variables believed to influence attitudes…

While conducting a needs assessment for a large Midwestern social service organization, the authors asked 252 preschool children from six Head Start programs what they like best about school. They wanted to reveal how children perceived their school and what they liked best about school--more specifically, what were their favorite areas and…

This article explores the use of iPads as part of a child-centred data collection approach to understand young children's creativity. Evidence is presented from a small study of three- to five-year-old children's creative play. Analysis of the children's engagement with iPad video diaries and free-to-use tablet applications was logged across two…

This article, part of a four-year research partnership with a multilingual faith community and its school, explores what happened when we invited young children in an aftercare program to inquire into the university from their perspectives. Through a sociocultural literacy framework and realist theories of identity and experience, we examine the…

Th?e authors examine the potential impact of play on astronauts adapting to the extreme conditions of space travel. Th?ey cite research showing that well-trained astronauts, though in general physically fi?t and emotionally stable, can suffer from--among other things--boredom and sensory deprivation in the con?fines of the microgravity capsules…

Research in second language acquisition has paid little attention to preliterate children learning a language which is absent from their environment outside the language class. This study examines the acquisition of English words by 24 French-speaking children aged 35-59 months, who were introduced to 57 words, embedded in stories and songs. Four…

Research with typically developing children suggests a strong positive relation between early gesture use and subsequent vocabulary development. In this study, we ask whether gesture production plays a similar role for children with autism spectrum disorder. We observed 23 18-month-old typically developing children and 23 30-month-old children…

The educational experiences of students engaged in different contexts of learning, particularly curriculum delivered and international travel and residence experiences may be related to problem-solving skills and game decisions and efficiency of high school students engaged in modified game play during physical education class. This study explores…

The goal of this study was to provide a preliminary evaluation of a social skills and facilitated play early intervention programme to promote social interaction, prosocial behaviours and socio-communicative skills among young extremely shy children in China. Participants were a sample of n = 16 extremely shy young children attending kindergarten…

There have been very few studies that apply the work of Mikhail Bakhtin and Norbert Elias to understand the underlying learning processes of young children. This article will explore the methodological similarities between Bakhtin's ideas about the carnivalesque and Norbert Elias's theory of established-outsider relations to explain how young…

The focus of this research was on examining a play-based, child-centered instructional technique known as story telling/story acting (ST/SA) within a Canadian preschool setting. The goal was to examine the changes that occurred in the narrative features of preschool children's stories, and to investigate whether ST/SA fostered emerging literacy…

Although exposure to traumatic events runs high among Americans, only a few--about 8.7 percent--of those exposed to such events develop symptoms that warrant a diagnosis of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The authors investigate two groups--dancers and athletes, including some who suffered from PTSD and some who did not--and found a higher…

Child-child similarity on attachment and temperament were examined, in turn, as predictors of interaction quality between previously unacquainted children. At 33 months, child-mother attachment security was assessed, and parents reported on child temperament. At 39 months, 114 children were randomly paired into 57 same-sex dyads and observed…

Play in the school setting is a highly contested issue in today's restrictive academic environment. Although many early childhood educators advocate the use of play in their classrooms and emphasize the importance of play for children's learning and development, children beyond the preschool and kindergarten years are not often afforded…