This paper draws on a three-year ethnographic study during which we investigated young children's cultural development in a Brazilian early childhood centre. A cultural-historical approach was used to understand the concept of autonomy. We focus on Danilo, a very young child who overcame his fear of using a play slide (a cultural artefact). We…

This article draws on a small survey of Auckland-area early childhood services to explore "tree climbing as curriculum". As well as considering how health and safety issues are understood and managed, it also considers the role/s of early childhood teachers during children's tree climbing, alongside the relevance of folk wisdom about…

Supported playgroups are a dual-focus service model used widely in Australia to provide stimulating early childhood environments for children and support for their parents. This article discusses some of the findings from a recent qualitative doctoral study that explored three supported playgroups in western Sydney. In particular, it articulates…

Playgrounds and play times offer valuable contexts for children to explore and learn about themselves and their social lives. This study sought to gather evidence of children's perceptions of their playgrounds and play times, specifically whether the playgrounds were seen positively or negatively and the types of activities in which they engaged.…

Forty preschool children were observed in outdoor play areas and interviewed about their perceptions of the observed play. The children's teachers were also interviewed. It was found that a significant negative correlation existed between physical play and creative play and that the majority of children perceived that outdoor play was independent…

Evaluated the effects of a drought and temporary food shortage on 248 Kenyan mother-child dyads' energy intake, weight, and behaviors. Found that school-age children were affected more negatively than toddlers, showing significant declines in energy intake, age-corrected weight, activity on the playground, and classroom attention. Behavior…

Examines the role of playgrounds that use discarded items or "junk" as an integral part of kindergarten classes in an Israeli kibbutz. Suggests that play in the junkyard, by including the whole person--muscles and senses, emotion and intellect, individual growth and social interaction--can offer the experiential foundations on which…

This paper identifies issues confronting early childhood educators who want to integrate young children with special needs with other children, and the implications of such integration for the design of outdoor play settings. The main thesis of the paper focuses on the ambiguity involved when developmentally appropriate practice in early childhood…