Describes a program developed to help parents become effective playmates. Suggests that interactive play between infants and adults has numerous benefits, although these benefits will not occur automatically; they require parents to develop the appropriate skills. Proposes methods to facilitate play and make an important contribution to the…

Observed the playground behavior and social interaction of 27 kindergarten children in a university laboratory school, focusing on the children's ability to successfully negotiate social interactions. Found that communication skills, ability to recognize and understand others' emotions and needs, and self-confidence are critical to positive social…

Examined mother-child communication patterns in relation to mother's marital status, child gender, and play activity in light of contextual-ecological models. Suggests that the socialization of gender be viewed as a construction influenced directly by factors in the immediate interactive context and influenced indirectly by developed adaptations…

Explores the importance of play in the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development of young children. Functional, constructive, and dramatic play, and games with rules, are examined. Suggests that play is a powerful curricular tool for the kindergarten and primary classroom. Investigates ways to integrate play into the curriculum and to…

Describes and illustrates a technique for using guided dramatization in intervention with special needs or at-risk children. Discusses social benefits of the technique. Maintains that the technique is useful for helping mainstreamed children socially integrate into the regular classroom. (BG)

Studies sex differences in play behavior across early elementary school years and the relationship between sex-typed play and peer acceptance for 86 second graders and 81 fourth graders (72 males and 95 females). Results indicate significant age and gender differences, with boys more often boisterous and aggressive than girls. (SLD)

The Parent as a Teacher Inventory was used to determine expectations of Anglo and Hispanic parents whose children were underrepresented in gifted education programs. Parent responses to the inventory, and a parent education curriculum that was developed based on the responses, are discussed. (BG)

Discusses difficulties parents encounter when they play with their disabled child and the inappropriateness of some commercial toys for disabled children. Also describes the development of adapted toys and of toy lending libraries for young disabled children. (BB)

A microanalysis of play in a fourth-grade classroom highlights its governing patterns and rules in play in which literacy is a factor. Social rituals of children are products of interaction and observation of the adult culture. They are a window into how schools and culture inform each other. (SLD)

Presents a case study of power relationships among four- and five-year old girls in Australia that illustrates how the roles that children may use in play can contribute to the analysis of race relations between children. Understanding parallels between racial power distributions in society and in play requires careful observation. (SLD)

Explored the relation between types of peer behavior in young children to children's level of intention understanding. Found level of intention understanding predicted types of overtures made, types of objects offered, monitoring of partner responses, partner compliance, and types of speech acts addressed to partners. (Author/DLH)

There is a distinction between girls and boys regarding the manifestation of sex-appropriate behaviour from an early age. There is evidence that boys and girls play and are reared differently, and also are reinforced differently to manifest behaviours regarded as playful. The purpose of this study was to identify if there were differences between…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the Penn Interactive Peer Play Scale (PIPPS), a teacher-rating instrument of interactive play behaviors for early childhood, was valid for urban, low-income children in kindergarten. The PIPPS demonstrated construct validity, and yielded three dimensions of interactive peer play: Play Interaction,…

Refugee families in Australia generally have a dual challenge--dealing with past traumatic experiences while facing the struggles of integrating with a new and unfamiliar society. For children and their families who have experienced war-related trauma and disruption, the resettlement process is being referred to as "secondary trauma" to…

Floor time is a play-based, one-to-one approach to helping children develop relationships, language, and thinking. Developed by child psychiatrist Stanley Greenspan, floor time is helpful not only for children with special needs but also for children who are developing typically. It can be used by teachers, caregivers, and families in brief…