In this paper, we share about specific tenets of joy in mathematics and conditions for supporting joy. A pair of students, Julia and Javier, young Latinx mathematicians in Grades 3 and 4 respectively, participated in a study that involved addition and subtraction with negative integers within game play. Drawing on descriptions of joy and…

This paper explores how floor programmable robotics can be used during play to promote language development. This paper describes a two-day pilot in two early years classrooms and presents data collected on children's perception of the Irish language and using robotics. A sample of 48 children (age range six to seven years) took part in a robotics…

This position paper proposes that a relationship between young children's embodied mathematical concepts and their awareness of mathematical pattern and structure (AMPS) (Mulligan & Mitchelmore, 2009) develops through play. Theoretical perspectives on the development of schematic patterns, the embodiment of mathematical understandings, and the…

Replayability has long been touted as a benefit of educational games. However, little research has measured its impact on learning, or investigated when students choose to replay prior content. In this study, we analyzed data on a sample of 4,827 3rd-5th graders from ST Math, a game-based educational platform integrated into classroom instruction…

Little, if any, examination of using play-based tools to examine children's opinions in research exists in the current literature. Therefore, this paper is meant to address that gap within the literature and showcase the study about the use of a specific play-based methodological tool in qualitative research. This specific tool called social board…

Individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are characterized by a number of social deficits. The aim of the current study was to investigate the associations between ADHD diagnosis and social relationships among children from primary schools. Findings revealed that ADHD may contribute to both objective (social isolation) and…

An assumption made when designing recess interventions in schools is that there is a clear demarcation between eating time and play time. We used observational data conducted as part of the Sydney Playground Project to test if this assumption was correct. The Sydney Playground Project is a cluster randomised controlled trial of a recess…

This study examines the effect of small-group game play before and after a Number Sense Test (NST). Fifty-seven 7-year old children were assigned into two conditions: (a) NST-Game Play, in which students sat for the NST before game play; or (b) Game Play-NST, in which students experienced game play before sitting for the NST. Findings suggested…

The major purpose of this study was to define the particular ways children's informal interactions in groups are important in their negotiations of playground games within school settings. Data, gathered over a 3-month period on the playgrounds of three elementary schools, consisted of 23 audiotaped records of children's spontaneously organized…

Discriminant analysis was used to explore the influence of the relative ages of siblings on their dyadic interactions, and to explore which interaction behaviors might discriminate among families and among interaction situations. Six dyadic interaction situations of 30 minutes duration were observed among members of 12 normal families. The…

This study examined high-aggressive and low-aggressive boys' ratings of the effectiveness of aggressive and assertive strategies for solving social problems involving hypothetical peers and actual peers. Subjects were 66 third-grade boys (11 groups of 6 boys each for a total of 22 high-aggressive, 22 low-aggressive, and 22 average aggressive boys)…

In this report we present preliminary results of a study on the relationship between informal out-of-school and formal in-school mathematics and the ways each can inform the other in the development of new mathematical knowledge, in this case concerning computation in base 12, 24 or 60. This study is based on a teaching experiment involving a…

This study examines age and sex differences in nurturant behaviors displayed toward a male infant by 60 subjects, both male and female, from three age groups: preschoolers, preadolescents, and young adults. The infant was 12 months old at the onset of the study and 16 months when the testing was completed. Each subject was videotaped for seven…

Maintaining order and preventing chaos in the classroom are major concerns of educators. However, for many teachers these concerns create a motivational dilemma. If a class lacks order, students tend to play and become over-excited instead of learning. On the other hand, if a class is strictly ordered, students become bored and make minimal effort…

Three field experiments involving 145 students in kindergarten, grade 2, and grade 4 examined the effects of different recess timing regimens on children's behavior. Results in terms of prerecess inattention and social interaction on the playground are discussed in relation to play deprivation theory and massed versus distributed practice. (SLD)