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Teacher-facilitation of play is proposed as an effective method for supporting early literacy learning, however, educators remain uncertain how to balance child-autonomy in play while also directing play toward explicit academic objectives. In response, this study sought to understand how kindergarten teachers can successfully facilitate play to support early literacy development. Classroom observations and semistructured interviews were gathered and qualitatively analyzed to identify key perspectives and classroom practices that lead to the educators' successful facilitation of play to support literacy. Results of this study showed how different core literacy skills can be supported through different types of play, with each offering unique and critical opportunities for learning. Results also demonstrated how a multitude of core literacy skills can be supported through guided approaches to play, and begin to illustrate how teachers are facilitating a continuum of guided play to support literacy learning.

In this article, the authors argue for a rethinking of kindergarten education from a critical feminist perspective. They illustrate how the devaluation and denigration of femininity and care - otherwise known as femmephobia - that permeates patriarchal societies is present in the seemingly innocent spaces of play in kindergarten. Tracing femmephobia in the spatial-material arrangements of play, teacher-student interactions during play, and children's play practices in two Canadian classrooms, the authors show how care-related activities and learning are deeply marginalized in kindergarten education. Given these findings, the authors propose a femininity-affirmative pedagogy in early learning. Specifically, they discuss the importance of intentional practice around an ethics of care. The authors argue that a refocus on an ethics of care in early childhood education is urgently needed in collective work towards social change.

Drawing from principles of ethical research derived from our review of national and international policy documents, in this paper we reflect on our research experiences working in partnership with Indigenous educators in a project to support young Indigenous children's oral and written language development through collaborative action research. Then, acting on lessons learned from this first partnership project, we describe our efforts to attend to these ethical research principles in a second partnership project to support Indigenous children's writing and Indigenous language and cultural learning through teacher-initiated, culturally specific, play-based activities. We offer our reflections as a starting point for conversations that will inspire and call for the necessary ethical and relational responsibilities of doing partnership research with and for Indigenous communities.

This research examines the use of teaching triads to the classroom-wide implementation of "Stay, Play & Talk" a peer-mediated social skills program for children in an inclusive Kindergarten classroom in Ontario, Canada. This research used prompting through peers to increase initiations and responses between children identified as having social communicative difficulties and children who were typically developing. Utilising a single-subject, multiple-baseline across participants design, the research investigates the impact of a prompting through peers intervention during teaching triads on the number of utterances (defined as verbal communicative behaviour that is an initiation or response to a peer or adult) for three five-year-old participants identified as having social communication deficits. After exposure to the peer-mediated intervention, results indicate that all three participants demonstrated an increase in their social communication skills with their typically-developing peers.

Play is a highly valued pedagogy in early learning settings around the world. Supporters of play have emphasised the benefits of this approach in promoting children's development and learning and their alleged freedom to choose, explore, and follow their interests. Feminist research, however, has shown that play contexts can be key sites that perpetuate gender inequalities. Building on this scholarship, I apply a critical feminist lens to examine the gendered effects of a recent shift in a Canadian province towards full-day play-based learning in kindergarten. Analysis of ethnographic data collected in two classrooms reveals that not all children may benefit from play-based learning. Instead, the findings show that the play settings in this study implicitly propagated patriarchal values that upheld hierarchal gender divisions and legitimized sexist practices among children in play. Specifically, in this paper I examine the subordination of girls through role allocations in the big blocks center. Given these findings, I discuss the need for critical gender literacy and transformative action among early education stakeholders.

Children identified with developmental disabilities or delays (DD) are increasingly being educated in inclusive mainstream classroom environments. At the kindergarten level, there have been pedagogical shifts towards the promotion of play-based learning, with few resources addressing how teachers can support inclusion in play. Forty-two Ontario kindergarten teachers completed an online survey with open-ended questions regarding the promotion of play and inclusion for children with DD. While participants shared differing conceptualizations of inclusion, the most common definition underscored the need to provide all children with appropriate academic support. In line with this definition, the majority of participants (74%) discussed the need for inclusive pedagogical strategies to promote greater academic inclusion in classroom learning activities. Several teachers (43%) also highlighted the need for strategies to promote a respectful classroom community. While teachers' views on the role of play complemented themes of academic and community inclusion, few teachers (24%) shared strategies to help support academic or community inclusion within children's play. These results provide insight into how kindergarten teachers conceptualise and promote inclusion primarily outside of the context of play and underscore a critical gap in research and practice.

Children's play has shifted within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly with increased time within the family home. This study responds to the following research questions: How did COVID-19 restrictions influence children's play within and outside the home? How did parents describe their role in their children's play during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic? Canadian Maritime families (n = 30) took part in three telephone interviews during the pandemic (July 2020, November 2020 and April 2021). Data were analyzed using qualitative description and thematic analysis to inductively identify codes and establish themes, including: (1) Facilitating play within the home; (2) Opportunities related to play outside the home; and (3) Shifting play in the outdoor environment. As families adhere to public health directives in response to COVID-19, children's play experiences were shaped by a movement toward an increased emphasis on the outdoor environment and fewer playmates. Ongoing research is needed to understand the potential impacts on children's development over time.

Although scholars have researched Chinese parents' perspectives on play pedagogy, few investigate the differences between parents of preschoolers and early primary schoolers, non-immigrant and immigrant parents. The present study employs the theoretical framework of parental ethnotheories to describe parental understanding and concerns about the use of play in supporting young children's English learning in China. The nine participants included parents of preschoolers and/or primary schoolers who were non-immigrant and immigrant Chinese parents in Canada. Findings revealed different types of discrepancies concerning parental beliefs and practices. First, there was a gap between parents' beliefs and their practices regarding child-rearing and education. Second, in terms of understanding play, Chinese parents held a slightly different perspective compared to that of western parents in other studies, showing that Chinese parents only valued play's supporting role in the development of non-cognitive aspects, such as improving interest in learning English. Third, parents of preschoolers and early primary schoolers held conflicting attitudes toward the use of play in children's learning. Fourth, immigrant Chinese parents were inclined to follow traditional Chinese notions of child-rearing, revealing discrepant perceptions about child play and rearing compared to western knowing of child-rearing in previous studies. The findings raise implications for educators to balance the pedagogical perspectives of child development and parental ethnotheories of child development.

Research Findings: There are sparse data on children's use of executive function (EF) and spatial skills in block play. However, there are important implications for studying EF and spatial skills with blocks across cultures, especially regarding best practices for supporting social-cognitive development in under-resourced populations and consideration of culturally unique customs and practices. Therefore, the current study compared EF-based skills and spatial block building behaviors in Canadian and Tzotzil Maya children. Participants included 82 preschoolers (55% Canadian) ages 48-59 months (M age = 54.37 months, SD = 3.37) observed and coded during a group block play session with peers. Controlling for demographic covariates, a composite EF-based variable including six behaviors (intentional selection of blocks, taking time, response inhibition, replacing/moving blocks, stabilizing, aligning) was significantly and positively associated with spatial configurations in block structures (symmetry, [beta] = 0.34; tiered orientation, [beta] = 0.37). The associations did not vary by culture. Practice or Policy: Results provide new knowledge about use of EF-based skills and spatial skills in an ecologically valid context and implications for cross-cultural measurement and practice.

As school authorities strive toward inclusive models of education for children with neurodevelopmental delay and disability (NDD), many kindergarten curricula have mandated pedagogy centered on learning through play. Children with NDD tend to experience greater social isolation and lower rates of social play engagement compared to typically developing peers. Consequently, issues related to social participation and inclusion may be particularly salient in play-based kindergarten classrooms. The current qualitative study explored how eight kindergarten teachers in Ontario, Canada conceptualized and promoted inclusion in play for children with NDD. Classroom observation and teacher interviews were conducted with a focus on the teacher's role in play. Teachers endorsed the use of several indirect (i.e., environmental) strategies to promote social participation, alongside proactive teacher support in play. Teachers who shared multiple aspects of an interventionist viewpoint toward disability, and identified the social benefits of inclusion in play for children with NDD, tended to provide more proactive support to all children in play. Teachers also provided reactive support in play to address emerging social conflict. Implications for fostering the meaningful inclusion of children with NDD in play-based learning are discussed.

The authors investigate the personality traits of parents and children and their significant influence on the behavior of the other. Using the HEXACO model of personality, the authors examine the behavior of one hundred parent-child dyads on a playground to understand broader parent-child relationships. Their analyses reveal two opposed types of parental behavior (engaged parents versus unengaged parents) and child behavior (introverted cautious play versus autonomous energetic play) on the playground. The authors assert their study demonstrates that the personality traits of both parents and children as measured by the HEXACO model play a significant role in parental and child behaviors during play and in broader interactions.

The purpose of this article is to share how two friends approach creativity in their professional lives in research and in the arts, and what we have learned through insights into places that impact this work. Our different approaches are reflected in our positionalities: one author is an emerging arts-informed researcher and university instructor, and the other author is a practising fine arts craftsperson and part-time faculty member. Our close friendship and ongoing conversations serve to connect our approaches to working with the arts, even as our attitudes to creativity and learning are demarcated. Relayed in the form of dialogue in response to guiding questions, this article is an expansive discussion of what work in the arts can look like, and how the interplay of creativity and place afford as-yet-untapped pathways of understanding that better suit contemporary conditions of life and study.

In Manitoba, more than half of marriages end with divorce. Many of these families include children. This article addresses the need for school counsellors to understand the impact that divorce has on children's lives. Children require a method to deal with unresolved feelings related to divorce. A school counsellor can support children through the separation process by examining how divorcing parents' decisions disrupt the family system, understanding how children progress through the post-divorce developmental tasks, and exploring possible therapeutic approaches.

French Immersion instruction has often focused on the development of oral language as the primary method of early literacy learning. Manitoba Education endorses this focus with its curricular emphasis on oral language acquisition before formal reading and writing instruction. This article examines the role of early years French immersion teachers in supporting both early years students' social-emotional development and early language development through supportive literacy practices. The author presents research that supports language acquisition alongside pedagogical methods that support kindergarten and grade 1 literacy development in a French Immersion environment.

In this article we explore how digital play as conducted through various social media and online meeting platforms facilitated resiliency and confidence building in children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using day-in-the-life methodology and narrative inquiry, we disseminate and examine observations collected on children aged 2-10 during lockdown in a Newfoundland neighbourhood. Children utilized platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, and Zoom to embrace their agentic digital play in ways that repurposed the platforms to fulfil life milestones and social needs otherwise impacted and disrupted by pandemic restrictions. Through a series of vignettes and interviews, our research not only examines how such digital play benefits children and their healthy development, but how parents reacted to and assisted with their children's agentic digital platform manipulation and how this provided positive benefits and enriching experiences to the entire family. We additionally explore the conflicts and tensions both children and parents encountered in securely implementing free play via digital platforms, including fears of excess screen-time, digital dependency, and online threats, all of which risk limiting children's ability to independently explore their creativity and identities through digital play if not handled sensitively. Despite the hurdles to implementing digital play, this study exposes why it is essential for families to navigate this online terrain; this study ultimately poses that digital play and online platforms not only were beneficial to maintaining and building family resilience during the pandemic but will be vital assets in sustaining resiliency and positive mindsets moving forward with pandemic recovery.

This research takes up the challenge of interpreting the two newest grounds of human rights protection across Canada -- gender identity and gender expression -- for professional practice in early childhood education. To date, no human rights tribunal ruling on these grounds has engaged early childhood education, and while the legal duty remains for early childhood educators to provide an environment free of gender-identity and gender-expression discrimination, the Ontario profession's governing bodies have provided no explicit guidance as to how. This research bridges early years educators' new and likely unfamiliar legal responsibilities in relation to both grounds and everyday life in early years contexts. The findings demonstrate that ample support exists within the profession's key guiding documents for 'gender-expansive' practice, or an approach to teaching children and supporting their development that both expects and sustains gender diversity. A similar analysis of guiding documents is needed internationally.

This article is a condensed version of the author's research which explores the relationship between imaginative play and creativity in education, and examines the structures, approaches, benefits, and obstacles surrounding the topic of imaginative play and creativity. The photo collection is a reflection on the ponderings throughout the author's project research. Inspired by zoom-in puzzles, a similar approach was taken to the creative representation of pedagogical wonderings through a photographic journey. By looking at things from different vantage points, one can see things in different ways, and, perhaps, experience a sort of catharsis through contemplation of the overlooked in the obvious.

Drawing connections between anti-Black racism, surveillance, and the criminalization of Black bodies, and using an autoethnographic approach, the author discusses the effect of racism on Black play. She analyzes her personal encounters and the public accounts of others to illustrate how white supremacy uses scrutiny and its attendant actions by citizens and law enforcement to deny Black people the basic freedom of play.

Purpose: This study aimed to (a) provide speech-language pathologists and researchers with a play-based procedure to measure the expression of spoken communicative intents by children aged 3 to 4.5 years and (b) present indicators of these children's capacity to produce these intents in this context. Method: A method inspired by TRIAGE (Technique de Recherche d'Informations par Animation d'un Group d'Experts) allowed an advisory group of 16 speech-language pathologists to select and agree on definitions of intents to include in this procedure, among a set of 13 preselected intents based on the scientific literature. A longitudinal design including four measuring times was used to verify the production of these intents by 99 French-speaking children (46 boys; M[subscript age] = 36.09 months) at 36, 42, 48, and 54 months using the Neighborhood Game, a previously developed elicitation procedure of communicative intents conducted within the context of symbolic play. For each measurement time, the average percentage of children who had produced each intent at least 3 times was calculated with a 95% confidence interval. Nonparametric analysis of variance for longitudinal data was carried out to verify progression with age. Results: A finalized list of eight communicative intents was selected along with their definition and a standardized script to elicit them during symbolic play. The production frequency of most intents showed significant progression between the first and the fourth measurement time. Arguing is the only intent that is still not produced by more than 90% of children at the age of 54 months. Conclusions: This study led to the development of an assessment procedure, which presents ecological validity and elicits the expression of eight communicative intents among 3- to 4.5-year-olds. This procedure can support the work of speech-language pathologists and researchers. The accompanying indicators of children's capacity to produce these intents at a given age in this kind of context are a notable addition to the knowledge on typical language development.

Early childhood educators (ECEs) play a vital role in encouraging healthy physical activity (PA) in childcare. As such, measuring ECEs' self-efficacy to facilitate such programming is important. The "ECE Confidence in Outdoor Movement, PA, and Sedentary and Screen Behaviors" (ECE-COMPASS) questionnaire (30 items) was developed via expert consensus. A test-retest design was used to assess the reliability and validity of the questionnaire with 165 Canadian ECEs via an online survey administered twice, one week apart. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha and test-retest statistics, and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was employed to determine factorial validity. Internal consistency and factorial validity of a revised version of the tool (31 items) was also tested with 120 additional ECEs. The ECE-COMPASS questionnaire showed high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha > 0.90 across subscales) and modest temporal stability (test-retest statistics > 0.62). A two-factor solution was identified by the EFA for both versions of the tool, with the two-factor solution explaining 10% more variability within the revised version, compared with the original tool. The revised ECE-COMPASS questionnaire was found to be valid and reliable and is recommended for use to measure ECEs' self-efficacy to promote PA and outdoor play and minimize sedentary behaviors in childcare.

Responding to concerns that play is at risk in the early years of education, this article investigates teachers' current use of play in language and literacy instruction in Grade 1 and 2 Alberta classrooms. It addresses what teachers say they need to make play part of school-based language and literacy education. Survey findings show a recognition of contested views on the role of play in instruction yet a press for play as a meaningful pedagogy in the early elementary grades. The article contributes teachers' perspectives on play in literacy teaching beyond preschool and kindergarten. It offers recommendations for conceptual, pragmatic, and research-focused supports that would allow teachers to leverage play in the development of children's literacies.

When we give meanings to a physical space, we engage in place-making. With technologies, the place-making activities can be extended to virtual and hybrid spaces. In games, actual or virtual space can gain narrative and meaning transforming into a playce (i.e., a place for play). We suggest that playce-making (i.e., transforming a space into a playce) activities in the classroom may provide adolescents with a rich learning context for teamwork, problem-solving, and knowledge creation. In our study, we observed ninth graders' engagements in game design projects at a Canadian suburban school. We discuss how learners created their own learning paths in transforming the actual space of their school, conceptually and typologically, into hybrid and virtual playces. Our research indicates that the typological transformation of space motivates learners to create or adopt narratives meaningful to them and their community from familiar spaces.

Purpose: This paper aims to examine unexpected arrivals of adult-oriented digital media in the playful storied environments of Grades 1 and 2 classrooms and the possibilities such unsettling literacies may offer. Design/methodology/approach: Posthuman perspectives provide this study's theoretical grounding and methodological approach. Actor-network-theory and thinking with theory are used to examine school play with two video games and the literacies entangled in children's same game machinima productions. Findings: Explorations of transmediascapes animate entangled meaning-making practices across virtual and material childhood spaces. They provide openings for educators to understand their students' literate world-making and consider how those unsettling literacies might have a place in the classroom as generative rather than to-be-avoided contaminations. Originality/value: The theoretical and methodological engagements of this paper offer opportunities to re-consider unsettling literacy encounters as generative contaminations rather than noxious intrusions. This paper shows how, in engaging with unsettling literacies, educators may participate with children in meaningful literacy practices responding to both the tantalizing and the troubling aspects of particular transmedia.

Background: Teachers' perspectives provide crucial insights into classroom practice in early childhood education settings. Although many kindergarten programmes emphasise play "and" assessment to support children's learning and development, recent research suggests that there are some disparities between teachers' articulated role of play and what they report assessing during periods of play. As a range of research designs can be used in efforts to probe the complex relationships between perspectives and practice, it is important to consider which methodological approach, or combination of approaches, may prove optimal in early years contexts. Purpose: The study sought to explore the relative merits of using: (1) semi-structured interview; and (2) video-elicitation interview approaches to gain deeper understanding of the connections between teachers' perspectives and practices within kindergarten education. Methods: An in-depth, qualitative enquiry was undertaken. This included classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, and video-elicitation interviews from 20 kindergarten classrooms in Ontario, Canada. Interview data were thematically analysed. Findings: The analysis indicated that video-elicitation interviewing influenced the structure and content of participants' responses when compared with semi-structured interviews, providing additional and valuable insights into the ever-present negotiation between perspectives and practice. Conclusion: The study highlights how semi-structured and video-elicitation interview approaches each offer particular strengths and limitations, and can be used independently or in combination to gain a deeper understanding of the connection between teachers' perspectives and their classroom practices. The selection of one approach, or combination of approaches, needs to be carefully aligned with the overarching research goals of a study.

This study aims to bridge a gap between Vygotsky's seminal framework on the importance of make-believe play and adult scaffolding in children's cognitive development (e.g. executive function [EFs]) and research in cognitive neuroscience. Kindergarten children (N = 160) and teachers (N = 12) took part in the study. EFs skills and make-believe play (Child and Teacher dimensions; e.g. adult' level of scaffolding) were assessed through observation with the "Executive Functions Observation Tool" and the "Mature Play Observation Tool." Results from stepwise polynomial regressions and mediation analysis showed a significant mediating effect of the context on the curvilinear relationship between teacher scaffolding of play and the child's level of EFs. These results show the importance of observing each child and the context in which they learn and play to understand their EFs. Observation of EFs manifestations could allow for better planning of intentional interventions to support the child's skills in accordance with their developmental needs.

In this study, we make the case for using texts children create as part of their play as a means for assessing their developing print literacy knowledge. We assessed 4- and 5-year-old children's authentic texts using categories and criteria from the "Assessing Young Children's Marks/Drawing/Print" tool, a research-based, classroom assessment we co-created with educators. We describe patterns we identified from our assessment of 104 texts the children created as part of their play within six themed centres in three kindergarten classrooms in a small northern town in Ontario, Canada. Overall, our assessment revealed the children's understanding of spelling and the conventions of writing, and of writing as a social practice. However, since many texts were at the single word level, we were unable to determine the children's understanding of conventions associated with more complex texts. We conclude by demonstrating how teachers might use the tool to assess children's play-based texts.

Unstructured outdoor play has been recognized for its beneficial impacts on children's healthy development; however, unfortunately, opportunities for children to engage in meaningful play are limited. Early learning and childcare centres can be essential settings for unstructured outdoor play, and educators can play a vital role in supporting children's opportunities, yet they face numerous barriers. We conducted five focus groups with 40 professionals working in the early childhood education field (educators, students and licensing officers) in British Columbia, Canada, to examine their experiences and perceived challenges in promoting children's unstructured outdoor play. Participants' identified challenges were mapped on the ecological system and ranged from microsystem concerns (e.g. knowledge and skills) to mesosystem concerns (e.g. lack of shared understanding with parents and colleagues), exosystem concerns (e.g. licensing regulations) and macrosystem concerns (e.g. societal risk aversion). We recommend evidence-based strategies to address each of the identified barriers, targeting each ecological system level.

This UK focussed theoretical paper builds on Harper's (2017. "Outdoor Risky Play and Healthy Child Development in the Shadow of the "Risk Society": A Forest and Nature School Perspective." "Child & Youth Services" 38 (4): 318-334) work in Canadian Forest Schools and the role that Forest Schools play in education by including outdoor risky play. It considers the conceptualisation of a risk-averse Western society, with a focus on healthy childhood development, and the childhood risks within Forest School that are present yet arguably small. There is the opportunity to re-conceptualise ideas around risk within the Forest School space through the framing of Massey's (2005. "For Space." London, UK: Sage Publications] proposition that space is a product of relations-between and that space is always in the process of being made. Thus, children create and 'own' the Forest School space through their inhabitation of it. Children's well-being and the value of risk in their lives can be understood as a fluid, dynamic and relational process within their geographies. Conclusions include a value that risk-taking has within the Forest School space. The implications of Beck's risk society, its ongoing influence on societal beliefs and practices, inducing practitioners' fear of litigation over accidents and injury are highlighted.

In light of the growing phenomenon of parent-child digital co-play of online games, we conducted a study to understand the different ways of digital co-play and how they can offer opportunities for the child's learning. We analyse four cases of parent-child digital co-play on "Let's Play" gaming videos with "Roblox" on YouTube. Our research method adopts a netnography research approach and multimodal discourse analysis to examine the data. We identify three ways of digital co-play, which include the parent-directed, parent-child negotiated, and child-directed parent-child interaction styles from the analysis of the videos. Following the analysis, we discuss how each of the ways of parent-child digital co-play can be productive in helping the child learn through shared gameplay with parents. We suggest how children can learn through communicating with parents during gameplay, creating something by themselves in the game, modelling parents' in-game behaviour, teaching their parents by sharing their knowledge, and leading the co-play. Our study aims to serve as a conversational starter to contribute to the global discourse on the phenomenon of parent and child shared interactions with digital technology as well as the ways in which learning can be facilitated through such experiences.

This case study examines the policy significance of a partnership between two organizations committed to improving children's learning and well-being through the delivery of a forest and nature school (FNS) program offered in the context of a licensed childcare program in the province of Ontario, Canada. The notion of the Anthropocene is taken as a theory and practice framework which emphasizes the urgency for developing new educational strategies that respond to the current moment of ecological crisis facing human and more-than-human planetary communities on earth. Methodologically, the case study is taken up through the lens of action research, wherein the leaders of the two partnering organizations participated as co-investigators of the project. Thematic findings of the study suggest that best-practice policy in early years FNS programs broadly include, among others, the following: understanding a continuum of FNS pedagogies, working to influence regulatory disconnections between built and natural play environments, and advancing social and ecological justice values through FNS programs.

The governments of many nations invest significant funding into early childhood education (ECE) programs. These programs play an important role in preparing early childhood educators for the workforce; however, it is unknown how many include training in outdoor play. We examined how outdoor play pedagogy is positioned in publicly-funded college and institute programs in Canada. Only five Canadian public colleges listed explicit courses on outdoor play in the fall of 2018. Despite this lack of calendar offerings, a survey of 28 faculty from 24 different institutions indicated that outdoor play training was seen as important. We recommend that those working to advance outdoor play pedagogy include college faculty in the process and that professional development resources focused on outdoor play be made available to college ECE programs.

Purpose: To explore whether parental perceptions of risk and attitudes toward risk-taking during play are associated with preschoolers' physical activity (PA) and physical literacy (PL). Methods: Nova Scotia preschoolers (35 boys, 17 girls; mean age = 3.8 years, range = 3-5 years) and parents (n=52 pairs) provided data. Linear regressions assessed associations of risk perceptions and attitudes with children's PA and PL, controlling for children's age (cross-sectional analysis; p<0.05). Results: Perceptions of risk were significantly associated with preschoolers' PA (r=0.24, p=0.05), and predicted 11.6% of the variance in PA. Findings revealed a significant positive relationship between attitudes toward risky play and PL (r=0.21, p=0.05), explaining 14.7% of the variance in PL. Conclusion: This evidence supports growing literature on the value of risky play to children's development and parents' influence in risk-taking behaviour.

This 3-year study followed 14 kindergarten classrooms in Ontario as they used open-ended tablet applications to support outdoor play and learning. Through the creation of slideshows that incorporated their photos, video, drawings, and audio recordings, the children explored their physical and creative activities outdoors, as well as their connections to nature. The educators were initially cautious about safety and solitary and sedentary use of the tablets. However, findings illustrated that children used the tablets safely, both individually and collaboratively, in conjunction with outdoor pursuits such as climbing and dramatic play. Rather than undermining the active, social, and nature-focused value of outdoor play, the use of open-ended apps enhanced these aspects by allowing children to attend to, document, and review their outdoor interests and activities.

In a world that grows increasingly aware of ecological problems such as global warming, rising sea levels, and pollution, we need to reconsider how we connect ourselves to the natural world around us. In this paper, we view makerspaces as ideal locations to shape children's emotional, sociocultural, and educational consciousnesses about the environment and our multi-layered roles undertaken to live in, and conserve, it. We apply third space, makerspace, and relational value theories in the analysis of a research project conducted with children at an early childhood centre. This project invited children to discuss ocean conservation prompted by the picturebook Flotsam (2006) and create three-dimensional exhibits that express how they visualize ocean conservation. Our research shows that children develop strong emotional connections to tangible representations of conservation when they are given the time to invest in making them, and that these emotional connections are driving forces for relational values that create conservation-oriented mindsets. It also shows how important context is for shaping the ways children learn, and that providing opportunities to examine conservation through makerspaces as a third space encourages children to create empathetic and personal relationships with the natural world.

This paper describes the textual practices of kindergarten children as they co-created and participated in a movie theatre play context within their rural classroom. Data informing this paper were drawn from classroom videos of children (aged 3-5 years) as they engaged in activities associated with the movie theatre, field notes from action research meetings with the classroom teacher and early childhood educator, and the texts created by the children while participating in the initiative. In relation to our research questions, we coded and then identified patterns in the children's text-making activities and the texts they composed. Our analysis found that the children created texts in preparation for and while participating in the play initiative, revealing their emerging knowledge of the alphabetic principle and print genres. Through their creation of textual materials and during their enactment of roles within the play context, the children also demonstrated their understandings about the social functions of different texts. Insights from this analysis build on the literature regarding young children's early writing development through play and may encourage educators to co-create dramatic play initiatives with their students to extend literacy learning beyond the acquisition of literacy skills.

Policy makers around the world increasingly mandate play-based learning in kindergarten classrooms, a pedagogical approach backed by research espousing not only the developmental appropriateness of play-based learning for this age group but also the benefits to students' academic achievement. Despite these mandates, researchers continue to see a discrepancy between policy and practice. Using the lens of institutional theory, the authors reviewed the issue and discovered that, although free play seems ubiquitous, teacher involvement in play--often fundamental for academic learning--fails to occur in approximately half of the classrooms studied. The researchers found evidence of an entrenched and limited definition of play as being child directed, a definition perpetuated by media depictions. These findings have direct implications for teaching practice, suggesting a need to develop a broader understanding of play-based learning and its role in classrooms for media outlets and the stakeholders they influence.

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health measures have interrupted the daily routines of parents and children. The purpose of this study was to explore parents' attitudes regarding their children's play/sport during COVID-19. A secondary objective was to explore the influence of parent demographics and parent-reported physical activity levels and risk tolerance on these attitudes. Ontario parents of children aged 12 and younger completed an online survey (August-December 2020) that assessed their attitudes (grouped by support, safety and socialization-related attitudes; n = 14 items) regarding their child(ren)'s play/sport, their physical activity levels (n = 2 items), and demographic details (n = 16 items). Two open-ended items were used to gather a deeper understanding of attitudes. Parents' tolerance for risk was measured via the validated Tolerance of Risk in Play Scale. Descriptive statistics were calculated to describe attitudes and risk tolerance. Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator regressions were conducted to examine factors influencing parents' attitudes. Multiple linear models were computed using the identified predictors for each attitude category. Deductive content analysis was undertaken on open-ended responses. Participants (n = 819) reported the highest scores for safety-related attitude items (M = 3.54, SD = 0.63) followed by socialization and support, which all influenced attitudes regarding children's play/sport (p < 0.05). Demographics and parents' physical activity levels were identified as important predictors of parents' attitudes. Qualitative data revealed that parents had mixed levels of comfort with respect to their children's return to play/sport. Findings from this study reveal that increased support is needed to guide future play/sport decision-making.

The author reflects on using the language of mathematics to explore the many different cultures represented in their kindergarten class population. A student demonstrating counting in Mandarin became the catalyst for a month-long inquiry into researching how numbers look and sound in dozens of different languages. Throughout this experience, children developed confidence working with numbers (e.g., number orders, matching number to quantity) as they grew to appreciate the diversity represented in their classroom and beyond.

Autonomy -- acting volitionally with a sense of choice -- is a crucial right for children. Given parents' pivotal position in their child's autonomy development, we examined how parental autonomy support and children's need for autonomy were negotiated and manifested in the context of children's independent mobility -- children's ability to play, walk or cycle unsupervised. We interviewed 105 Canadian children between 10 and 13-years-old and their parents (n = 135) to examine child-parents' negotiation patterns as to children's independent mobility. Four patterns emerged, varying on parental autonomy support and children's need/motivation for independent mobility: (1) child/parent dyad wants to increase independent mobility; (2) child only wants to increase independent mobility while parents do not; (3) child does not want to increase independent mobility while parents do; and (4) child/parent dyad does not want to increase independent mobility. Findings illuminate the importance of recognizing children as active and capable agents of change.

This study explored voices of early learning teachers engaged in discussions in an online outdoor play and nature pedagogy course. Three core questions were investigated that focused on early learning teachers' perceptions and practices of children's access to quality outdoor play and nature experiences. The results support previous research that indicated that teachers' perceptions, experiences, values, knowledge, and attitudes influence children's outdoor play experiences. The findings suggest the need to increase access to professional learning that contributes to early learning teachers enhancing their confidence, awareness, and intentional programming, which results in shifting attitudes to fully embrace outdoor play and pedagogy.

The purpose of this study was to understand typically developing children's repetitive behavior in a freeplay, daycare setting. By studying repetition in a non-Montessori setting, we tested the assumption that repetition is a characteristic behavior of all young children and not limited to the Montessori environment. Although Maria Montessori identified repetition during her observations, there is little empirical evidence to support her claim: most research has considered repetition in terms of psychopathology. We collected naturalistic observational data on 31 3- to 6-year-old children for a total of 101 hours to investigate the frequency, contexts, and structure of repetitive bouts. Multilevel model results suggest the ubiquity of repetition, as all children in the study engaged in motor repetition. Furthermore, repetition occurred throughout all free-play activities (construction, animation, fantasy play, rough-and-tumble play, and undirected activity), although repetition was not equally distributed across activities. Motor repetition was not equal across ages either; younger children engaged in more motor repetition than did older children. To understand the structure of repetition, our study also looked at the length of repetition bouts, which ranged from 2 to 19 repetitions and averaged 2.86 repetitions per bout. This natural history of repetition is an influential starting point for understanding the role of repetition in development and is informative to both Montessori and non-Montessori early childhood educators.

OPAL -- Outdoor Play and Learning, in collaboration with Earth Day Canada, is a national program that encourages outdoor play in public schools across Canada. This paper focuses on the implementation of OPAL in an elementary school in Toronto. The initial implementation strategies of the program are discussed, which include efforts to create a play policy framework that centres childhood relations with the outdoors or 'environment'. Employing posthuman and/or more-than-human frameworks, I examine the potential of OPAL to become a practice of learning with environments as opposed to learning about the environment. This is a significant shift in childhood thought and practice that requires serious consideration and pedagogical attention to how environmental education can move toward transdisciplinary practices in more-than-human worlds.

The authors present the impact of the Métis Settlements Life Skills Journey facilitator training program. Community members, aged 16 to 32, were hired and trained to lead youth summer camps. It was hypothesized that participation in the program and employment as facilitators would have a positive impact on their individual resilience. The program and employment were designed to increase participant knowledge in key areas of resilience and skills to engage children in learning through play.

Although a growing number of caregiver-mediated intervention models for families with children with autism are being examined in efficacy trials, few have been transferred to community implementation. Furthermore, little testing has explored implementation strategies to support caregivers' strategy use with their children. In partnership with a publicly funded intervention agency in Canada, this pilot project explored intervention implementation strategies and follow-up supports. Dyads were randomized at entry to coaching or observe then add coaching and at intervention exit to individual or group follow-up booster. The caregiver-mediated Joint Attention, Symbolic Play, Engagement and Regulation intervention was provided by agency staff to a diverse community sample of families with young children awaiting or diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Independent agency staff delivered assessments and recorded a caregiver-child interaction. Blinded raters scored children's initiations of joint attention, play actions, joint engagement, and caregivers' strategy implementation. Practitioners implemented the intervention and coaching strategies well (M = 83%). Overall, caregivers made significant gains in strategy use and children showed significant growth in joint engagement, play diversity, and joint attention across conditions through public caregiver-mediated intervention services. Caregivers' strategy use supported gains in children's joint engagement.