This article attempts to address the challenge that preschool teachers face, when integrating a specific content area, science, with play. The study builds on the theoretical framework of Play-Responsive Early Childhood Education and Care (PRECEC), in which teaching, and play are understood as a mutual activity. In this mutual activity, teachers…

The early childhood stage is a time of basic foundation in which children are engaged in pretend play and creative activities. The objective of this study was to explore the role of pretend play on the creativity development of preschool children. Data were collected from four purposefully selected preschool children (two male and two female)…

While research consistently demonstrates that young children learn best through play and social interactions, this developmental insight is not often reflected in current classroom curricula. Through action research, I examined how a play-based kindergarten environment could impact student writing and writing engagement. This article specifically…

This paper provides a discourse analysis of 12 Swedish sexuality education texts intended for preschool practitioners and published between 1969 and 2021. Using Fairclough's framework, we identify three discourses about children's sexual play in relation to children's sexual agency in the texts: child sexuality as encouraged and entangled with…

Cross-case study research was used to explore the school readiness of four 5-year-old children entering kindergarten during the 2020-2021 school year after three or more years of play-based early childhood education at a Reggio Emilia-inspired early childhood education center. Data included a series of three 1-h individual interviews with four…

While overt social atypicalities remain a key component of the autistic phenotype, recent reframing of autistic social motivation suggests that these atypicalities do not overlap with their actual level of social engagement. Our study aimed to investigate autistic preschoolers' visual attention toward social situations with unequal interactive…

The present article aims to systematically summarize the effects of free-play (FP) on preschool-aged children's physical activity (PA) level, and motor (MC), cognitive (CC), and socioemotional competence evaluated through randomized controlled trial (RCT) design. A systematic review of relevant articles was carried out using two electronic…

In recent times, engineering education has increasingly emerged as a valued kindergarten practice. Engineering teaching in play brings challenges for Chinese kindergarten teachers. An educational experiment (EE) was conducted to help Chinese kindergarten teachers face this challenge. Qualitative data including video data and interview transcripts…

The authors consider play to be critical and intrinsic to healthy human life and development, and they argue that children's right to play should be supported by the environment in which they live. Their study seeks to understand what children do when they appear not to play during free play periods at early childhood education and care…

The aim of this study was twofold: (a) to carry out an in-depth investigation of teachers and parental views regarding outdoor play and learning, and (b) to examine the extent to which the objectives and goals related to outdoor play and learning were documented within the school curriculum. The data were collected qualitatively from 12 teachers…

Digital devices such as iPads are prevalent in children's play from an early age. How this shapes young children's play is an area of considerable debate without any clear consensus on how different forms of play are brought into the iPad interaction. In this study, we examined 98 play activities of children in two preschool settings, featuring 2…

Research demonstrates that physical activity is essential for a child's well-being, learning and motor development. The purpose of this article is to qualitatively explore how female and male kindergarten staff promote physical activity towards boys and girls in the outdoor playground of a Norwegian kindergarten consisting of fifty children…

Play, of varied type and form, provides opportunities for children to acquire a sense of competence and belonging when engaging in classroom life. The purpose of this study was to investigate ways that the inclusion of play as a curricular component eased academic stressors and supported motivation during the transition to kindergarten. In this…

Studies into early mathematics education have reported that play, and active exploration, provide promising settings for early mathematics education (Ginsburg, 2006) as the early years is a time to engage children in a range of mathematical ideas to develop their mathematical capability (MacDonald, 2018). More recently, the Australian Association…

How children experience the major transition from pre-school to compulsory schooling influences their immediate and future success and wellbeing. This complex process of change and adaptation is impacted by school readiness policy drivers, which prioritise children's performance and achievement. Pedagogic and curriculum progression shifts from…