Much research has pointed to the importance of pretend play as a facilitator of literacy development. However, few studies have investigated the corresponding role of sociodramatic play in mathematical development. This exploratory naturalistic study examined the numerate behaviors that occurred during spontaneous pretend play in a preschool…

Twenty-six precocious preschoolers exhibited high frequencies of dramatic and associative play. Girls engaged in more cooperative and less solitary play than boys. Elder children participated in more solitary, parallel, and less cooperative and less dramatic play than younger peers. The higher intelligence quotient group undertook less…

Examined children's cognitive style and their play in different play areas according to sex and age. Found that females played most in the physical, block, manipulative, and dramatic play areas, while males played most in block play. Four-year olds played most in physical, block, and dramatic play, while five-year olds most often chose…

Examined 2- to 5-year-olds' play with peers in their child care classroom and on the playground. Found that children were more likely to engage in interactive dramatic play outdoors than indoors. Outdoors, older children were more likely to interact with peers than were younger children. Outdoors offered older children functional and dramatic play…

This paper describes two projects analyzing forms of appearance and the characteristics of symbolic play, that is, spontaneous play free from adult intervention. The paper highlights some characteristics and theoretical orientations and discusses preliminary findings. The theoretical framework includes using evolutive cognitive and…

Presents results from ethnographic study on children's everyday life in Finnish daycare centers. Raises question of the relationship between play and real life, and analyzes play and playfulness as communicative resources used by children in creating everyday routines. Argues play is not a separate children's world; by using play, children also…

Theoretical correspondences between the language and play development of young children and developmental aspects of play and speech are discussed prior to a report of a study comparing categories of cognitive complexity nested within social categories of solitary play and self speech. Participants were 36 preschool boys and girls approximately…