Among various benefits of art for young children, this article highlights the emotional development aspect, specifically boosting self-confidence through art activities. The definition of self-confidence as having trust in one's self, clear knowledge of one's strengths and limitations, and assurance of one's ability to handle a variety of…

Outdoor experiences allow teachers to focus on expanding child learning in different domains. Nature experiences can sharpen child senses, enrich vocabulary, increase spatial understandings, and permit more practice for large muscle skills. As well, teachers can arrange outdoor activities to promote positive peer cooperation and aesthetic…

While the importance of inclusive approaches to research has been identified, much childhood research is still done 'to' not 'with' young children, with research focusing on the experiences of children who experience disability commonly involving data from parents/families/practitioners, rather than from children themselves. In this article, we…

Early intervention activities for very young disabled children are frequently linked to developmental targets and goals. A key challenge for parents and practitioners involved in early intervention programmes is to encourage their child to play and develop creatively through enjoyable, everyday childhood experiences. This paper reports on a…

Children move the instant they are born and the moment they wake up every morning. Moving is one of the first and most important ways infants and toddlers explore and learn about the world, and this process continues as they grow and develop. Research shows that movement and exercise can spark the growth of new brain cells and facilitate learning…

From adding richness and variety to learning, to redesigning a playground, this highly accessible text will provide early years practitioners with a wealth of ideas on how to foster creative play and learning in the outdoor environment with a focus on interacting with the natural world. "Nature and Young Children" contains many simple ideas on the…

This book provides 250 games and activities designed to help infants to 8-year-olds with all types of disabilities grow through play. Many activities come with special adaptations for children with physical, visual, hearing, emotional, and cognitive impairments. Each chapter focuses on a particular "world" or activity theme. Topics of individual…

The creative arts--including music, movement, dramatic play, puppetry, painting, sculpture, and drawing--are a crucial part of early childhood. Not only do the arts allow children to express themselves, but creative activity can enhance development of children's skills in literacy, science, math, social studies, and more. This engaging collection…

This report describes the Expressive Arts Project, which was designed to develop and demonstrate a developmentally appropriate, activity-based expressive arts curriculum model, that will enable children with disabilities to have access to activities in the arts that are an accepted part of regular early childhood programs in typical settings. The…

This issue of the Illinois Association for Gifted Children (IAGC) Journal focuses on teaching gifted children in the regular education classroom. Featured articles include: (1) "Educating All Gifted Children for the 21st Century: Proposal for Training Regular Classroom Teachers" (Maurice D. Fisher and Michael E. Walters); (2)…