Reinforces the value of drama and theater for young children. Recommends dramatic play, creative drama, theater, and television, a form of drama, as opportunities for children to learn social interaction skills and person-to-person critical thinking. Urges recognition of drama as an educational tool in the development of young children. (DLH)

The objectives of this paper are (1) to present the relationship of play to language and cognition, (2) to describe the stages of play and discuss recent literature about the characteristics of play, and (3) to describe the use of play with the multifaceted goals of cognition, pragmatics, semantics, syntax, and morphology as an intervention…

Experience is a necessary component and complement for the intellectual and academic study of drama, and consciousness-expanding alternatives to the classroom are viable alternatives, representing conceptual organizations positive in value. Festivity and celebration can serve a dual prupose: to expand consciousness of the literary period outside…

Discusses the components of rough and tumble play, analyzing three play sequences with a brief summary of the metacommunication taking place in child behavior. (RB)

Low-income preschool children face many risks to their social-emotional development that can affect their school experience and social outcomes for years to come. Although there are some promising approaches to improving young children's social-emotional competence, the evidence base is limited, particularly on the effectiveness of these…

Parenting behaviors play a critical role in the child's behavioral development, particularly for children with neurological deficits. This study examined the relationship of parental warm responsiveness and negativity to changes in behavior following traumatic brain injury (TBI) in young children relative to an age-matched cohort of children with…

Children's interests are frequently cited as a source of early-years curricula. Yet, research has rarely considered the nature of these interests beyond the play-based environment of early-childhood education. This paper reports findings from a qualitative, interpretivist study in two early childhood settings in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Using…

Humour and play have many features in common, both of which are important aspects in children's lives. In this article the focus is set on the relationship between different aspects of children's self-concept, including their humoristic self-concept, and interest in learning, play and local cultural activities. Participants in this study were…

The role of play in human development has long been the subject of controversy. Despite being championed by many of the foremost scholars of the twentieth century, play has been dogged by underrepresentation and marginalization in literature across the scientific disciplines. "The Oxford Handbook of the Development of Play" marks the first attempt…

The creation and cultivation of an imaginary companion is considered to be a healthy form of pretend play in early childhood, but there tends to be a less positive view of older children who have them. To test the extent that having an imaginary companion in middle school is associated with positive or negative outcomes, an ethnically diverse…

We piloted a 2-week "Autism-1-2-3" early intervention for children with autism and their parents immediately after diagnosis that targeted at (1) eye contact, (2) gesture and (3) vocalization/words. Seventeen children were randomized into the Intervention (n = 9) and Control (n = 8) groups. Outcome measures included the Autism Diagnostic…

Little is known about prosocial behaviours in children of young mothers. This longitudinal study involved 44 young mother (age less than 20 years at birth of first child) families and 44 older mother families, who were carefully matched for child age and gender, as well as for family structure (number of children, lone-parent status) and…

Background: Specific thematic content arising from children's doll play is often considered to give clinically meaningful information regarding their mental state, but has received little systematic enquiry. This exploratory study examined the negative and atypical content themes in the attachment story narratives of children with behaviour…

The school is an important setting for physical activity. The purpose of the present study was to examine the association between physical environmental characteristics and participation in daily physical activity during school breaks. Data from 130 schools and 16 471 students (Grades 4-10) in Norway were obtained in 2004 through self-administered…

Describes and provides a list of materials for sensorimotor, symbolic, and construction play. Benefits of arranging the playground with a variety of materials are also discussed. (AS)