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Direct linkKimberly Squires; Tricia van Rhijn; Debra Harwood; Jess Haines; Kim Barton – Early Childhood Education Journal, 2025
Access to playful experiences outdoors is critical for children's learning and development. With a significant amount of young children attending early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings (OECD, OECD Publishing, 2023), these programs have an important role in furthering children's equitable access to outdoor play. As part of a larger…
Descriptors: Early Childhood Teachers, Teacher Attitudes, Learning Processes, Child Development
Sophie Carruthers; Tony Charman; Kathy Leadbitter; Ceri Ellis; Lauren Taylor; Heather Moore; Carol Taylor; Kirsty James; Matea Balabanovska; Sophie Langhorne; Catherine Aldred; Vicky Slonims; Vicki Grahame; Patricia Howlin; Helen McConachie; Jeremy Parr; Richard Emsley; Ann Le Couteur; Jonathan Green; Andrew Pickles; PACT-G Trial Group – Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2025
We investigated autistic children's generalisation of social communication over time across three settings during a play-based assessment with different adults and explore the potential moderating effects on generalisation of age, nonverbal IQ and level of restricted and repetitive behaviours. The social communication abilities of 248 autistic…
Descriptors: Generalization, Interpersonal Communication, Interpersonal Competence, Communication Skills
Andrea Sanchez – Early Childhood Education Journal, 2025
Research abounds regarding the need for young children's access to authentic play experiences. Yet, while play is considered the main method of learning for young children, mainstream curricula often omit this mode and further perpetuate the artificial divide of play or learning. Guided play is a pedagogical approach in which teachers integrate a…
Descriptors: Play, Teacher Role, Student Role, Kindergarten
Sarah Matthews; Maria Nicholas; Lisa Kervin; Louise Paatsch; Peta Wyeth – Education and Information Technologies, 2025
Computational Thinking (CT) is recognised as an essential foundational skill that enhances problem-solving abilities and is a crucial learning area for effective engagement in an increasingly digital society. This paper highlights the significance of screen-less tangible tools in promoting young children's exploration and open-ended play with…
Descriptors: Thinking Skills, Computer Science Education, Infants, Toddlers
Leigh M. Vanderloo; Alexandra A. Puchiele; Brianne A. Bruijns; Sarah Carsley; Patricia Tucker – International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy, 2025
Introduction: Child care is the primary environment in which many young children spend their time outside the family in Canada, and as such, plays an important role in supporting healthy movement behaviours. This population, including children with a disability, is consistently noted to attend child care and report lower rates of meeting movement…
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, State Legislation, Physical Activities, Movement Education
Download full textMst Taherun Nesa Subarna; San Su Su San; Nuruddin Ahmed Masud – International Journal of Research in Education and Science, 2025
A pedagogical strategy called "play-based learning" was one of the new visions, purposes, and objectives introduced by the kindergarten program. Play-based learning is a child-centered approach that emphasizes play-based learning in the curriculum material. This qualitative study's goal was to investigate the pedagogical methods…
Descriptors: Play, Teaching Methods, Kindergarten, Preschool Teachers
Martyna Figueiredo – BU Journal of Graduate Studies in Education, 2025
Risky play is climbing, high-speed activities, dangerous exploration, dangerous elements, rough and tumble, and disappearing experiences. There are three primary barriers to risky play: the introduction of electronics, building safer playgrounds in new urban-designed cities, and parent involvement in overscheduling activities have been hindering…
Descriptors: Play, Risk, Barriers, Telecommunications
Annika Manni; J. Annerbäck; H. Löfgren; F. Mårtensson; A. Fröberg – International Journal of Early Years Education, 2025
This article investigates views and discourses on outdoor play in preschool teachers talks about their playgrounds and outdoor practices in Swedish preschools. Included were a strategic sample of teachers from newer, larger preschool facilities with more programmed outdoor space, and teachers from older, more traditional facilities containing more…
Descriptors: Preschool Teachers, Play, Foreign Countries, Teacher Attitudes
Han Qi Zeng; Siew Chin Ng – Early Childhood Education Journal, 2025
Early science inquiries and experiences increase young children's awareness and interest for science. The importance of promoting science process skills which bolster children's confidence to formulate and communicate personal ideas have been emphasised by international guidelines. As Loose Parts Play (LPP) is a form of free play involving…
Descriptors: Play, Kindergarten, Questioning Techniques, Young Children
Kristina Lund; Andreas Redfors; Agneta Jonsson – Early Childhood Education Journal, 2025
When preschool teachers attempt to initiate play-responsive science teaching, opportunities arise to develop or challenge the play further, for example, by introducing or focusing on science content. The aim of this article is to generate knowledge about how projected images and videos can be used in attempted play-responsive science teaching and…
Descriptors: Preschool Teachers, Teaching Experience, Visual Aids, Video Technology
Zoe Sills; Sarah Watkins – SAGE Publications Ltd (UK), 2025
Now, more than ever, children need to develop autonomy and decision-making skills. Too often in Early Years settings, opportunities for learning through risky play are missed. In this book, Zoe Sills and Sarah Watkins support you to overcome the barriers to embedding and allowing space for risky play in your setting. (1) Know the value of Risky…
Descriptors: Play, Risk, Early Childhood Education, Child Development
Esinam Ami Avornyo; Sara Baker – Early Years: An International Journal of Research and Development, 2024
This study adopted a qualitative approach and analysed interviews from seven parents with children enrolled in nursery and kindergarten in Ghana. The interviews examined parents' descriptions of play and learning and how they perceive the value of play in children's learning. The findings revealed that the parents generally have doubts about the…
Descriptors: Young Children, Kindergarten, Parents, Parent Attitudes
Lerato B. Ndabezitha; Sarah Gravett – South African Journal of Childhood Education, 2024
Background: Research has shown the benefits of play for children's learning and development. Play can also be harnessed for pursuing pre-determined learning goals related to school curricula through "guided" play. Aim: The research inquired into the implementation of a pre-service teacher education course on play as pedagogy to evaluate…
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Play, Preservice Teachers, Preservice Teacher Education
Childhood Education, 2024
Play Africa, with over 40 innovative exhibits and/or programs since inception, was created as a means to address the inequalities and lack of high-quality experiences that affect the early development of children from birth to age 10 in South Africa. The results from the 2021 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) paint a dire…
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Play, Equal Education, Children
Gavin R. McCormack; Calli Naish; Jennie Petersen; Patricia K. Doyle-Baker – Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 2024
Play encourages physical and social activity creativity, and risk-taking. However, unstructured and risky play is on the decline. Our qualitative study explored the perspectives of Play Ambassadors, who facilitated a community-based loose parts play intervention ('play hubs') in Calgary parks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using semi-structured…
Descriptors: Community, Parks, Intervention, COVID-19
