How we raise young children is one of today’s most highly personalized and sharply politicized issues, in part because each of us can claim some level of “expertise.” The debate has intensified as discoveries about our development—in the womb and in the first months and years—have reached the popular media. How can we use our […]
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This is a condensed version of a larger article that appeared in the American Journal of Play (Gray, 2009).Analysis of the anthropological literature suggests that hunter-gatherers use play and humor, more or less deliberately, to make their highly egalitarian mode of existence possible. Their methods of governance and sharing, religious beliefs and practices, and productive […]
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Research demonstrates young children with autism and other developmental disabilities can benefit from participation in play activities with peers. Play provides opportunities to increase social skills across developmental domains in an integrated manner and provides opportunities to develop a sense of belonging and friendship; these goals are†critical for young children with disabilities. However, in order […]
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Risky outdoor play has been associated with promoting children’s health and development, but also with injury and death. Risky outdoor play has diminished over time, concurrent with increasing concerns regarding child safety and emphasis on injury prevention. We sought to conduct a systematic review to examine the relationship between risky outdoor play and health in […]
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Many comparative studies have focused on the emergence of solitary and social play in early development, however, few consider observer and parallel forms of play. In this study, we analyzed approximately 21 h of video recordings and revealed a significant difference between the frequency of solitary, observer, parallel, and social object play states, in calf, […]
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Background: This study sought to explore mothers’ and fathers’ perceptions of the risks and benefits of screen time and active play during early childhood. Methods: In-depth semi structured telephone interviews were conducted with mothers and fathers (n = 28) of children aged 3-5 years who had earlier taken part in a larger quantitative study in […]
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We evaluated the effects of group activity schedules on social engagement among children with autism spectrum disorders. Although activity schedules are often applied to dyads, we assigned children to small groups (e.g., 3-4 children) to increase the number of available play partners and potential social validity of the intervention. We also compared the effects of […]
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The focus of this article is children’s self-organisation of peer-groups through play. The play was initiated by encounters with the environment. The use of ethnographic methods in early childhood research has proved helpful to elucidate, interpret, and understand children’s experiences and the creation of meaning in their everyday lives. This inquiry draws on field notes, […]
6 Few interventions exist for school-aged minimally verbal children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Even though play skills are associated with children’s production of language, few studies have focused on play for minimally verbal children. Fifty-eight minimally verbal children with ASD received a naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention. Children were randomized to receive a speech generating device […]
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This article explores the relationship between toddlers’ (age: 30-33 months) well-being (WB), play (PL), social-emotional competence (SC) and movement skills (MS). Two hypotheses were put forward for testing: (1) there is a significant positive correlation between WB, PL, SC and MS, and (2) toddlers’ WB can be predicted from their PL, SC and MS. The […]
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The purpose of this article was to systematically review the play therapy literature examining the effectiveness of child-centered play therapy with the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) population. Child-centered play therapy is shown to be an evidencebased, effective intervention for children; however, a systematic review of childcentered play therapy as an intervention with the ASD population […]
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This ethnographic study describes how an in-depth preschool learning pathway developed around children’s investigations into a contemporary artist. It found that learning with Yayoi Kusama’s art favoured habits of exploration, reflection, revisitation and development of ideas, and enriched children’s visual awareness, inclusive artlearning conversations and their learning in mathematics, literacy and visual art. It argues […]
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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a prevalent childhood disorder as 1 in 68 children, 8 years old and younger, are diagnosed with ASD. Additionally, childhood trauma impacts 60% of children living in the United States. Due to the lack of social awareness and increased sensitivity to various stimuli, children diagnosed with ASD are often more […]
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This article explores the gamification trend sweeping the globe promising increased engagement and motivation, in practically any industry, context and culture, based on a stratagem of “game design elements in non-game contexts, ” which is its most quoted definition [Deterding, Sebastian, Miguel Sicart, Lennart Nacke, Kenton O’Hara, and Dan Dixon. 2011. “Gamification-Using Game-Design Elements in […]
4 The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a peer-mediated LEGO® play intervention on improving social skills for children with ASD in an inclusive preschool in China. Three boys with ASD and 13 typically developing children participated in this study. A multiple-probe across participants design was used. The intervention consisted of LEGO® construction […]
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Despite increased interest in children’s risk-taking in play, little is known of this aspect considering children under three years. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the concept of scaffolding to potentially describe patterns in staff-child interaction in 1-3-year-olds’ risky play. Empirical data were taken from an exploratory study, executed as a focused ethnography with multiple […]
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This study examined associations between father involvement and father- child attachment security, and whether those associations differed as a function of timing (workday and nonworkday) and/or type (accessibility, caregiving, and play) of involvement. Eighty father- child dyads participated when children were approximately 3 years old. Fathers completed a time diary interview assessing the various forms […]
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In this article, we argue that tabletop games provide a helpful means of rethinking the affordances of digital games in pedagogy. We argue that tabletop games offer a distinctive technology from digital games in exploring the idea of play as experience, providing a sociable, accessible and tactile platform that can easily be adapted by players […]
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The potential for risky play and independent mobility to increase children’s physical activity, and enhance cognitive development and emotional wellbeing has been recognised for some time. The aim of this study was to describe the attitudes of New Zealand parents towards such risky play practices and independent mobility, the barriers preventing them from allowing their […]
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Decline in Independent Activity as a Cause of Decline in Children’s Mental Wellbeing: Summary of the Evidence.
ABSTRACT It is no secret that rates of anxiety and depression among school-aged children and teens in the United States are at an all-time high. Recognizing this, the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Children’s Hospital Association issued, in 2021, a joint statement to the Biden administration that child […]