Videotaped 1- to 6-year-olds' day care routines and adults' work after extensive consultation on the Storycrafting method to study children's thoughts and collaborative behavior. Found that children's viewpoints are elicited when they play an active role and when educational work is directed by telling stories, playing, and doing research. Noted…

Observed 20-month olds' solitary play and collaborative play with their mothers. Found that child language and mothers' symbolic play influenced child collaborative play; child gender and mothers' verbal intelligence predicted child solitary play and influenced mothers' play; and mothers' physical affection influenced mothers' play. (BC)

Fifty children from five first-year classrooms were observed and interviewed over a 10-week period. Found socialization of these children to the view that schooling is essential for their preparation for the future; according to the children, this takes place during activities identified as "work," not "play," and is emphasized…

Presents ways educators can make music an integral part of early childhood education and give every child a quality music experience. Discusses five ways children experience musical play: singing, rhymes and fingerplays, movement, listening, and instruments. Emphasizes the importance of musical goals rather than spatial-temporal reasoning or other…

Describes a Montana child development center's creation of an area in which children could enjoy messy, creative, sensory experiences playing with mud and a wide variety of outdoor props. Discusses how mud play contributed to young children's emerging interests and provided opportunities for expressing creativity, enhancing fine motor skills, and…

A study investigated the effectiveness of correspondence training and photographic activity schedules on the on-task and play correspondence behavior of four preschool children with autism in an inclusive setting. Results indicate that all participants' on-task and play correspondence behavior increased, while experimenter prompts gradually…

The ecobehavioral arrangements of 14 early childhood special education and 10 early childhood regular education classrooms in Tennessee and Minnesota were observed and coded. Children in regular early education classrooms tended to spend proportionally more time in play, whereas children in special education classrooms spent proportionally more…

Two mentally retarded boys with autism and one girl with Down syndrome were successfully taught to initiate and play a ball game with an adult. The program targeted both nonverbal responses (such as ball contact and cooperative play) and verbal responses for play initiation and compliment delivery. (Author/JDD)

Describes ways in which young children persuade their peers during play. Also discusses ways in which preschool teachers can help children learn the skills of persuasion and help them make and keep friends. (BB)

Examined maternal involvement of adolescent and adult mothers with handicapped and at-risk preschool children. Adolescent mothers of handicapped and at-risk children were rated as significantly less contingent and verbal, and provided less positive affective climate than did adult mothers. Perceived social support and locus of control were…

The study of four highly original preschool children found that the children had high levels of inner imagination, extremely varied expressive creative behavior with each having a "specialty area" as a creative focus, and different levels of social competence. Results support D. Shmukler's model for organizing elements of creativity in preschool…

Compared with fathers, mothers were more likely to pick up and hold infants, feed and comfort them, and invest time in displaying affection. Although there were sex differences in parents' rough and peek-a-boo play, mothers and fathers treated boys and girls quite similarly. (RH)

The study compared the effects of different play conditions (microcomputer, remote-control robot, or no toys) on the amount of time four dyads of handicapped/nonhandicapped children would interact during structured play. Results suggested that microcomputers may serve as social facilitators for children with significant social and language…

Describes an undergraduate class simulation project used to engage student interest in and knowledge of both "The Federalist Papers" and anti-federalist writings. Discusses the importance of simulation in the classroom and provides information concerning implementation of this technique. Notes that the simulation provides experience in…

Suggests 12 strategies for helping students read social studies material with greater comprehension and increased creative interaction with text. Strategies include drama games, simulations, debates, oral histories, current events, and cross age teaching. (LS)