This paper offers a creative methodology for co-creating and analysing data when conducting research with children, families and practitioners in the early years. Instead of relying heavily on either adult observation or language when, for example, interviewing children, we propose the method of choreographed visual montage. We show the novelty…

Large-scale research such as the Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) study (Sylva et al., 2004) confirms the significance of educator and teacher practices for improvement in learning outcomes for young children. The quality of instruction children receive in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings and programs can…

Observations of parent-child play with toys are often used to assess interactions between parents and non-autistic as well as autistic children, but some research indicates that play without toys may elicit more positive interactions than play with toys. The first goal of the study was to examine whether this is true in the case of autistic…

Story-time serves as an interactive linguistic tool through which parents encourage their children to share narratives. Grounded in sociocultural and narrative theories, this study employed a visual ethnographic approach to explore how parents perceive and engage in story-time interactions within 33 Chinese families. Data were collected through…

Self-regulation is the ability to control cognitive, behavioural and social-emotional processes in service of one's goals. In the preschool years, self-regulation develops rapidly, and during this period, it is influenced by the plasticity of the underlying neurofunctional circuits. Since good early self-regulation skills favour positive…

A critical component of early childhood development, evidence links learning through play with a wide range of child outcomes, including creative problem solving. As such, a small but growing body of evidence has started to shine a light on the ways high-quality educational media, embedded with playful learning, can support young children's…

Background: Neurodiversity in mathematics classrooms embraces learners with mathematical barriers. This article contends that cultural play and technology can be used to support neurodiverse learners in teaching mathematics in early childhood as they incorporate inclusivity, equity and diversity. Aim: The article explores the educators' lived…

Using a feminist-new materialist lens, this paper attends to child-digital interactions in fostering Indigenous literacies, by focusing on the "Quantum Sandbox" exhibit in the Digital Immersion Lab at a Canadian children's science museum. Analytically, this paper explores how a digital exhibit ("Quantum Sandbox") creates a…

Despite recorded successes of using Lego®-based Therapy (LBT) to support autistic children and young people (CYP) and those with SEMH needs, there is a dearth of research examining the perspectives of secondary school practitioners. Addressing this gap, this paper explores the perspectives of staff (teachers and paraprofessionals) in a secondary…

Background: Engineering play is an emerging framework for understanding young children's constructive block play as an engineering design process. Few studies have evaluated engineering thinking, language, or behavior in preschool-age children, especially quantitative evaluations that systematically document specific early engineering behavior.…

A challenge for early childhood (EC) educators internationally is how to increase the integration of popular culture, media and digital technologies in EC settings to promote children's learning with digital media. But an ongoing puzzle is why the practices of some educators change, while others remain the same. Much research about teaching…

This article shares four dialogues with Vivian Gussin Paley to show how the author embarked on a journey of "writing, thinking, and teaching" with Mrs. Paley. Their journey started with the author sharing stories about students in her classroom through written correspondence with Mrs. Paley. In the process of writing and thinking, the…

References to internal states (e.g., thoughts, feelings, and desires) indicate children's appreciation of people's inner worlds. Many children spend time playing video games; however, the nature of children's speech when doing so has received little attention. We investigated the use of internal state language (ISL) as 251 seven-year-olds played…

Play is often used in interventions to improve social outcomes for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Play is a primary occupation of childhood and, therefore, an important outcome of intervention. The Ultimate Guide to Play, Language and Friendship (PLF) is a peer-mediated intervention for 6-11-year-old children with ASD. A total of…

This observational study focuses on prosocial behaviors of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during an interaction with their older, typically developing sibling (TD-Sibs). Twenty-eight sibling dyads, in which the younger sibling was diagnosed with ASD (ASD-Sibs), were video-recorded at home playing a game of their choice. Video…