In recent years, limited research attention has been directed to what happens in science education before the age of 3 years. We present the findings of a study that followed 13 infant-toddlers aged 0.1-2.2 years (mean 1.8 years) and their educators from a childcare centre. Under the conditions of an educational experiment, the results of our…

Empirical research shows that adults' role in play with infant-toddlers is to provide children with play materials, observe from a distance, and control the surrounding dangers. An international trend to increase children's cognitive skills at a very early age has established a need to better understand toddler's conceptual learning and how this…

This study explores how infant and toddlers become caring individuals, an aspect that has received little attention among young children's interactions in educational settings. Research findings demonstrate how acts of caring support, embellish and expand infants' and toddlers' interactions. The meanings of these acts are explored based on…

Object exploration is considered a driver of motor, cognitive, and social development. However, little is known about how early childhood education and care settings facilitate object exploration. This study examined if children's exploration of objects during free play was facilitated by the use of particular spatial components (floor, tables,…

Adults' behaviour in interactions with children is assumed to influence children's playfulness. However, little is known about how the quality of teacher-child interaction in early childhood education and care affects the development of children's playfulness, although the interaction quality has been identified as a strong predictor of children's…

A growing number of toddlers are attending childcare institutions as part of China's establishment of its infant-toddler childcare service system. However, there is limited empirical evidence available regarding the quality of these childcare services. The purpose of this study is to investigate the quality of teacher - child interactions in…

Risk-taking during the toddler years is crucial for the development of autonomy, initiative, and independence. However, the current culture in the U.S. seeks to minimize the risks young children are exposed to. This small-scale, mixed methods study examined parental attitudes towards toddler risk-taking and children's behavior during nature play.…

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 article critically interrogates the model of language that underpins early years policy and pedagogy. Our arguments emerge from an ethnographic study involving 2-year-olds attending a day care centre that had begun to hold a substantial proportion of its sessions outdoors. The resultant shift in pedagogy coincided with changes in the…

Toddlers' engagement with their social and physical environment is an important aspect of their experience in early care and education programs. The purpose of this research study was to examine how global quality relates to children's engagement in toddler child care classrooms. Additionally, this study explored how toddlers' group engagement…

This article focuses on how Early Childhood Education and Care institutions provide for 1- to 3-year-olds' risky play--a previously little researched topic--utilizing data from an exploratory, small-scale study investigating aspects of risky play in the age-group. The main findings describe how three essentially different Early Childhood Education…

The purpose of this study was to explore the quality of toddler childcare in Norway using the Infant Toddler Environment Rating Scale-Revised Edition (ITERS-R; [Harms, Thelma, Debby Cryer, and Richard M. Clifford. 2006. "Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scales Revised Edition." New York: Teachers College Press.]), drawing on a sample of…

Partnerships are dynamic, negotiated spaces encompassing community organizations and interprofessionals. Partnerships support young children and families as they transition from home to school. Interprofessionals create a culture for learning and accessible resources. Early childhood centers, public health and libraries develop collaborative…

The aim of the study on which this paper is based was to explore in which situations and contexts Norwegian 1-3-year-olds experience subjective wellbeing in day care. The data in this study was collected through qualitative phenomenological observations of 18 children, and an inductive process of analysis was conducted. The results show that…

This study documented the consistency of child engagement across two settings, toddler child care classrooms and mother-child dyadic play. One hundred twelve children, aged 14-36 months (M = 25.17, SD = 6.06), randomly selected from 30 toddler child care classrooms from the district of Porto, Portugal, participated. Levels of engagement were…