A stratified sample of 34 three-year-old to five-year-old boys and their parents (30 mothers) was observed in their homes during free-play and problem-solving interactions. Observer-ratings of behaviors of parents in each interaction were examined in relation to teachers' ratings of the boys' problem behaviors in a childcare setting. Parent…

The authors examined the relation of the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) Inventory (B. M. Caldwell & R. H. Bradley, 1984) for 0- to 6-year-old Sundanese Indonesian children with the quality of the mother-child attachment relationship (n = 44) and attachment-related behaviors during play interactions (n = 37) and with…

The lives of many were changed forever when a tsunami struck on the morning of December 26, 2004, as a result of an earthquake off the coast of Indonesia registering 9.0 on the Richter scale. Aftershocks in the nearby Andaman and Nicobar Islands sent waves of fear among the survivors, further debilitating their spirits. The aim of this article is…

Objective: The goal of this study was to identify links between observed conflict interactions and risk for child abuse and harsh parenting among a multiethnic sample of adolescent mothers (14-19 years) and young fathers (14-24 years). Methods: Prior to childbirth (T1), observation-based relationship data were collected from 154 expectant…

A study of Kagan's peer play situation for measuring heritable influences on children's behavioral inhibition (that is, shyness) drew its data from the large, multimethod, multivariate MacArthur Longitudinal Twin Study. The MacArthur study examined behavioral inhibition across four ages and two situations, looking for possible sex differences and…

Urban streets can be turned into recreational facilities for neighborhood populations by closing them to vehicular traffic during certain hours. (RC)

This research attempted to answer the question of why play is enjoyable and drew on the personal experiences of a variety of people for its conclusions. (RK)

Describes an early childhood education course project in which students participated in developing, organizing, and conducting a play group, one day a week, for two- to five-year-old children and their parents. (Author/SDH)

This article describes play activities of children from birth to age 10 from the internalist's viewpoint. (PD)

This study investigated the prediction that playful activity would increase the number of alternate uses that children would be able to give for objects which are not involved in that activity. Subjects were 36 white, middle-class preschoolers. (Author/SDH)

This paper addresses the current abandonment of children's free play--a proven, broad-based, indispensable learning experience--in favor of formal learning and instruction. Educational research has found that play is the natural learning medium of children, yet this understanding is not guiding educators' practice. This condition has caused many…

Two studies were conducted with normal preschool and retarded children to examine D. El'konin's theory that condensation of play activity occurs when social human relationships are reproduced in role play. Two types of condensation were hypothesized: reduction of repetition in a manipulation or in a small unit of sequential manipulations, and…