Background: Child care centers are important for children's behaviors. Aims: To examine the cross-sectional associations between child care environmental characteristics and physical activity and sedentary time in children. Methods: Participants were 124 toddlers and 118 preschoolers from 19 centers in Alberta and Ontario, Canada, in the…

This study examined and compared the extent to which early childhood educators' (ECEs) and home childcare providers' (HCPs) practices supported children's play. The sample included 50 ECEs and 20 HCPs in settings that care for 70 children at 18, 24, and 36 months old. At each time point, the childcare process quality was observed using the…

Research in second language acquisition has paid little attention to preliterate children learning a language which is absent from their environment outside the language class. This study examines the acquisition of English words by 24 French-speaking children aged 35-59 months, who were introduced to 57 words, embedded in stories and songs. Four…

Toddler toy play evolves in a predictable manner and provides a valid, nonverbal measure of cognitive function unbiased by social behaviors. Research on prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) indicates that exposure to stress in utero results in developmental deficits. We hypothesized that children exposed to high objective PNMS from a natural disaster…

Children who interacted with a robot that spoke reciprocally to them uttered more speech that maintained the topic of conversation, and engaged in more verbally mediated social play than children who interacted with a randomly speaking robot. Gender differences in children's looking at their mother in the room were observed. (BC)

Mothers' interventions in object conflicts during play between toddler peers of the same age and sex were examined. Results showed that mothers frequently intervened. Mothers favored the other child in the conflict, except with older sons, and were inconsistent in endorsing rights of ownership or possession. (BC)

A total of 36 normally developing children of 13-30 months of age were evenly divided into three age groups and observed while playing with their mothers. Their communicative behaviors were recorded according to intent and level. Intent was classified as comment, request, and reject; levels were nonverbal, verbal-contextual, and…