This project seeks to understand the 'possible worlds, possible selves' (Carr, M., A. B. Smith, J. Duncan, C. Jones, W. Lee, and K. Marshall. 2010. "Learning in the Making." Rotterdam: Sense) afforded to children by collaborative imaginative play involving negotiation. We investigate how 3 and 4-year-olds achieve their ends through…

In an attempt to connect theory and practice with regard to research on creativity and visual arts, this study aims to explore how visual materials created by children can help determine qualitative parameters in the process of observing creative activity. These materials are the result of a series of workshops designed by the authors, artists,…

This paper presents data from a multi-year ethnography of a rural preschool in the United States in which children engaged in substantial free and structured imaginative play. An unexpected parent death during the course of the data collection period was followed by a spate of death-related play and storytelling by the children, with varied adult…

This paper presents the findings of a study conducted with preschool teachers trialling an intervention in which executive function activities are embedded in teachers' daily practices and imaginary play is used to build meaningful problem situations that children solve using executive functions. The participants were 227 preschool children (53%…

This study aims to examine how five-year-old children demonstrate their learning through mathematical games in preschool settings in Palestine. It also explored the perspectives of children and teachers of different stages of play. The sample consisted of 90 children and 6 teachers. Children were guided to a wide range of mathematical games.…

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between the main components of role play, according to Vygotsky (object substitution, idea of play, play interaction), and executive functions (working memory, inhibition, cognitive flexibility, planning) in preschool age. The study involved 56 children, 5 to 6 years old (29 boys and 27…

There is more to know about children's play and learning in public spaces, including the long-term benefits of exposure to established play spaces such as children's museums. Nested within an 18-month mixed-method longitudinal study, this qualitative descriptive study sought to understand how children aged three to five years develop and learn…

This study investigated whether two educational strategies, providing material and active adult support during play, promote pretend play quality in a group of preschoolers. The sample consisted of 101 preschoolers (50% females; mean age at t1= 43.02 months, SD= 5.94) from 14 Swiss educational play groups. These were randomly allocated to the…

Grounded in the sociocultural perspective, this paper analyses current Croatian theory and practice on the transition to school and addresses the importance of fostering a play-based pedagogy and symbolic play in particular. Despite the contemporary theoretical background on early childhood and children's transition to school, the mainstream…

Imagination is the ability of envisaging something that does not exist at the time being. Since 5-6-year-old children get through the pre-operational stage of Piaget's [2004. "Çocukta Zihinsel Gelisim" [Intellectual Development of Child] (2nd ed., H. Portakal, Trans.). Istanbul: Cem], they believe in empirical facts. Hence, Kujawski's…

Previous research has indicated that young children's executive functions (EFs) can be bolstered through role-play [e.g. the 'Batman™ effect'; White et al.]. However, what is not clear is whether it is the role-playing of another's perspective, or something about the role played, which is responsible for the Batman™ effect. The current experiment…

The international quality-improvement agenda for Early Childhood Education (ECE) directs attention to maximising children's learning experiences. Yet routines, and particularly those relating to sleep-rest provision, are not well conceptualised as learning opportunities. Often children who no longer sleep in the daytime are required to lie down…

Pretend play is a quintessential activity of early childhood, and adults supply children with many toys to encourage it. Do young children actually prefer to pretend, or do they do it because they are unable to engage in some activities for real? Here we examined, for nine different activities, American middle-class preschoolers' preferences for…

This research is concerned with how children's processes of imagination, situated in cultural and social practices, come into play when they invent, anticipate, and explore a problem that is important to them. To enhance our understanding of young children's learning and meaning-making related to science and sustainability, research that…

The study presented in this article is part of a larger study called Progressive Feedback (blogs.helsinki.fi/orientate), which is an early childhood education and care (ECEC) research and development project. The aim of this article is to find out: (1) how children's tested creative thinking abilities, fluency, originality and imagination…