This article discusses a single case analysis of teacher-child interactions on an everyday bush walk in New Zealand. It uses a combination of the Leuven wellbeing scale (Laevers, 2000) and a conversation analysis approach to explore how children and teachers attend to specific features of the outdoor environment in a way that encourages risk-taking and […]
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have deficits in social skills and may avoid engaging in play activities with typically developing peers. The purpose of this study was to identify the utility of activity schedules, with embedded scripts, to teach three children with ASD to play a complex social game. Specifically, children with ASD […]
Research on suicidal ideation (SI) and suicidal behavior (SB) in very young children is scarce. However, in clinical settings, child psychiatrists encounter these constellations repeatedly. Although death by suicide before 10 years of age is rare, suicidal thoughts, and sometimes behaviors, do occur. Indeed, the prevalence of suicidal thoughts and behaviors, considered together, in preschoolers […]
Background: Few studies have delved into the relationship of the social environment with children’s physical activity and outdoor play in public playgrounds by considering gender differences. The aim of the present study was to examine gender differences and the relationship of the social environment with children’s physical activity and outdoor play in public playgrounds. Methods: […]
Although recess has traditionally been a regular practice in primary school settings, today recess is being reduced or eliminated in an effort to provide more instructional time and increase achievement. However, empirical research does not support the elimination or reduction of recess. Research documents that recess affords many physical, cognitive, and social benefits for primary […]
The connection between play and culture has an illustrious past. In 1950, the classic play theorist Johan Huizinga articulated the position of play as a cultural phenomenon, one that humans share with animals. In this work, he introduced the defining criteria of play and its relationship to other higher forms of human activity such as […]
The world of iPods, mobile telephones, portable wireless computers, and devices of every description, including toys that contain computer chips, memory, voice recognition, and interactive connectivity has forever changed the landscape of play. User-generated content allows players not only to play, but to shape the games they play, and by so doing shape the effects […]
To look deeply at play, and to place it in evolutionary, biological, cultural and contemporary context is to partially answer the question, what, really does it mean to be fully human? Or, to state it another way, if play is lost or missing, in a complex changing and demanding world, are there serious negative consequences […]
Movement comes in all sizes. It is stretchable, temporally elastic, and full of energetic possibilities. It can be tailored to any occasion. It can be discreet or boisterous. Like anything that is overdone, it can tire you out or even knock you out. Children often excel in it and of course infants are known to […]
Rough-and-tumble play, also called play fighting, is a form of play in which partners compete with one another to gain some advantage (e.g., strike, bite, push onto ground), but do so without the severity or consequences of serious fighting, which it resembles (Aldis, 1975). Play fighting is one of the most commonly reported forms of […]
Play is not neatly defined in terms of any single characteristic; instead, it involves a constellation of characteristics, which have to do with the motives or mental framework underlying the observed behavior. After analyzing multiple sources of play definitions, the author concludes that essentially all of the descriptors of human play used by prominent play […]
Common usage claims broad application for the term playground including school playgrounds, park playgrounds, wilderness playgrounds, zoo playgrounds, arboretum playgrounds, camp playgrounds, casino playgrounds, dog playgrounds, cruise playgrounds, street playgrounds, rooftop playgrounds, loose parts playgrounds, check-a-child playgrounds, wilderness playgrounds, imagination playgrounds, accessible playgrounds, intergenerational playgrounds, natural playgrounds, etc. Even politicians play with the label. For […]
The purpose of this study was to examine how an early childhood education (ECE) curriculum responds to children’s voices in reference to transition from kindergarten to first grade. Drawing from the findings of a previous study which examined the empowering and limiting aspects of transition as voiced by first graders, I consider the points where […]
Free play, in which children develop their own activities, including rough-and-tumble activities that, as the term play implies, involves physical activity such as running, jumping, play fighting, and wrestling, are increasingly recognized as essential components of a child’s development. Both human and animal studies have provided evidence that periods of play improve social skills, impulse […]
Aims: Children with mobility related disabilities often experience limited participation and access to social interactions. An emerging pediatric powered mobility device are modified ride-on cars that provide self-directed mobility experiences to children with disabilities. This study aimed to determine: (1) the feasibility of a modified ride-on car intervention during an inclusive playgroup, (2) the effect […]
Public open spaces (POS) are key neighbourhood destinations for children, providing opportunities for meaningful experiences (i.e. affordances) and independence. This study aimed to explore children’s experiences and perceptions of neighbourhood POS in order to understand POS affordances for children’s independent mobility (CIM). This study utilised go-along (walking) and home interviews with 140 children aged 9-13 […]
Maintaining children’s health was the responsibility of parents, but now public schools and health departments have contributed significantly to improving child health. Diarrhea is an endemic disease in Indonesia and is also a potential illness of outbreaks that is often accompanied by death. In the year 2015 occurred 18 times Outbreaks of Diarrhea spread in […]
Play is commonly used to assess affective states in both humans and non-human animals. Play appears to be most common when animals are well-fed and not under any direct threats to fitness. Could play and playfulness therefore indicate pre-existing positive emotions, and thence optimal animal welfare? We examine this question by surveying the internal and […]
Children’s early mathematical abilities are fundamental to their later academic achievement. An interest in mathematics in the early years is likely to establish a positive attitude to later mathematical learning, hopefully sustaining continued interest in mathematics and mathematical learning. Approaches to early mathematics teaching in the early years, however, are typically adult-initiated, which may fail […]
We demonstrate that book-carrying behavior in grade school, junior high, high school, and college is sexually dimorphic. A book-carrying category system containing eight categories was employed to record the book-carrying styles of about 60 males and 60 females in each of 10 grade groups from kindergarten through college. Males and females employed similar carrying styles […]
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