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Sustained attention (SA) is an endogenous form of attention that emerges in infancy and reflects cognitive engagement and processing. SA is critical for learning and has been measured using different methods during screen-based and interactive contexts involving social and nonsocial stimuli. How SA differs by measurement method, context, and stimuli across development in infancy is not fully understood. This 2-year longitudinal study examines attention using one measure of overall looking behavior and three measures of SA--mean look duration, percent time in heart rate-defined SA, and heart rate change during SA--in N = 53 infants from 1 to 24 months across four unique task conditions: social videos, nonsocial videos, social interactions (face-to-face play), and nonsocial interactions (toy engagement). Results suggest that developmental changes in attention differ by measurement method, task context (screen or interaction), and task stimulus (social or nonsocial). During social interactions, overall looking and look durations declined after age 3-4 months, whereas heart rate-defined attention measures remained stable. All SA measures were greater for videos than for live interaction conditions throughout the first 6 months, but SA to social and nonsocial stimuli within each task context were equivalent. In the second year of life, SA measured with look durations was greater for social videos compared to other conditions, heart rate-defined SA was greater for social videos compared to nonsocial interactions, and heart rate change during SA was similar across conditions. Together, these results suggest that different measures of attention to social and nonsocial stimuli may reflect unique developmental processes and are important to compare and consider together, particularly when using infant attention as a marker of typical or atypical development.

Mnemonic devices are memory aids that make it easier to recall information and are widely used by students studying anatomy and physiology. Simple musical instruments and toys can serve as mnemonic devices for students learning the functional anatomy of the larynx: balloons can help learners understand and recall how sound is produced; tuning pegs can help learners understand how tension affects vocal pitch; fingers on a fretboard can help learners understand how pitch is further modulated; and a common coach's whistle can demonstrate how vocal volume is controlled. Using instruments and toys engages adult learners and helps them connect complex laryngeal anatomy with previous experiences.

Independent locomotion is associated with a range of positive developmental outcomes, but unlike cognitive, linguistic, and social skills, acquiring motor skills requires infants to generate their own input for learning. We tested factors that shape infants' spontaneous locomotion by observing forty 12- to 22-month-olds (19 girls, 21 boys) during free play. Infants were recruited from the New York City area, and caregivers reported that 25 infants were White, six were Asian, four were Black, and five had multiple races; four were Hispanic or Latino. All infants played in four conditions: two environmental conditions (gross-motor toys, fine-motor toys) crossed with two social conditions (alone, together with a caregiver). Infants moved more in the gross-motor toy conditions than in the fine-motor toy conditions. However, the effect of playing with a caregiver differed by toy condition. In the gross-motor toy conditions, playing with a caregiver did not affect how much infants moved, but in the fine-motor toy conditions, playing with a caregiver further depressed infant locomotion. Infants with more walking experience moved more with gross-motor toys but not with fine-motor toys. Differences in the amount of locomotion between conditions were related to how infants used toys and the interactions between infants and caregivers.

The secure base phenomenon was ascribed to changes in exploration observed during Ainsworth's Strange Situation Procedure (SSP), related to the quality of the attachment relationship. However, infant temperament was not taken into consideration. The current study aims to replicate Ainsworth's findings regarding infant exploration and attachment quality during the SSP and extend the findings by examining the role of infant temperament. One hundred thirty-two mother-infant dyads participated in the SSP when infants were 12 months old. Video recordings were coded for attachment quality and for duration of locomotion, duration of engagement with toys, and quality of engagement with toys. Temperamental activity level and fear were assessed with the Infant Behavior Questionnaire. Results showed that--irrespective of infant temperament--infants with insecure-resistant attachment relationships engaged less with toys compared to infants with secure or insecure avoidant relationships, and these differences were amplified during separation from the mother. Duration of engagement with toys was thus a robust indicator of attachment-related infant exploratory behavior. Duration of locomotion increased in response to separation from the mother and decreased after reunion. This likely reflects a mix of exploratory and proximity seeking behavior, and was more affected by controlling for temperamental fear. For quality of engagement with toys, no associations with attachment and temperament were found. During the SSP, the manifestation of the secure base phenomenon depended on the combination of the type of exploratory behaviors and the quality of the attachment relationship, but also on infant temperament.

In many countries, individuals have started to gain 21stcentury skills from an early age. In Turkey, the education of gifted students is supported with activities enriched in parallel with these skills in science and art centers. The LEGO® Education® BricQ Motion Essential Set reinforces achievements with hands-on activities in science subjects, while also improving 21st-century skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration. At this point, this study aims to examine the effect of the LEGO® Education® BricQ Motion Essential Set on the 21st-century skills of gifted students in the teaching of the 'Force and Motion' unit and to determine the students' views on the teaching process. The study was carried out in a science and art center in Konya in the spring term of the 2021-2022 academic year. The sample of the study consisted of 21 gifted students studying in Support-2 programmes (4th grade). An explanatory sequential design was preferred in the study. In the quantitative data collection phase of the study, a one-group pre-test/post-test experimental design was used. Interviews were used for the qualitative data collection phase. The quantitative data of the research were analyzed with the SPSS 26 statistical package program. Qualitative data were categorized according to themes and codes in accordance with content analysis. The results of the research showed that the LEGO® Education® BricQ Motion Essential Set was effective for 21st-century learning and the renewal of the skills of the gifted students participating in the research and that the students developed positive opinions about this education set. It is recommended to use LEGO® training sets to develop the 21st-century skills of gifted students.

In this pilot single-case study, we evaluated the effects of using LEGO® as a tool for students identified with disabilities to improve their expressive writing performance. We applied a simple ABA reversal design to test whether the intervention was effective with four seventh graders. Social validity data were also obtained. Findings indicate that all four participants received a substantial benefit from playing with LEGO® as they tried to come up with ideas for their essays. The length of texts considerably increased once they started using LEGO® materials. Social validity feedback from the students suggests that, overall, they held a positive view of the intervention, but they also voiced some critical opinions. This paper ends with a discussion of limitations and possible further extensions to the novel approach presented.

Children with intellectual disabilities face obstacles in their numeracy skills development. Stick intelligence is a learning media that is aimed to help these children enhance their numeracy skills. Therefore, this study aims to identify: (1) the numeracy skills of students with intellectual disabilities before using the mathematical intelligence sticks; (2) the numeracy skills of students with intellectual disabilities after using the mathematical intelligence sticks; and (3) the effects of mathematical intelligence stick media in enhancing the numeracy skills of fourth-grade students with intellectual disability in State Elementary School for Exceptional Children 4 Batu, Indonesia. This experimental study used single-subject research (SSR) approach with an A-B-A design. The data were obtained by asking the students to complete the summation operation, and the results were analyzed using percentages. The analysis results showed that: (1) the initial mean level of the numeracy skills of the children with intellectual disabilities was 52.2; (2) the mean level of the numeracy skills of the children with an intellectual disability after the treatment was 82.3; and (3) mathematical intelligence sticks carry effects on the numeracy skills of the children with intellectual disability. Therefore, an increase in summation skills of the students with intellectual disabilities is attained after they use the mathematical intelligence stick.

This research article aims to (1) determine the knowledge and experience of early childhood education of Suan Dusit University, and (2) develop and study the effectiveness of learning experience provision models that synergize the knowledge of Suan Dusit University to enhance the proper development of young children according to the 75/75 criteria. Data is obtained from personnel of 87 various agencies of Suan Dusit University, e.g., deans, directors, managers, chairpersons of programs, heads of departments, and 129 students in kindergarten 1, 2, and 3 of La-orutis Demonstration School, Suan Dusit University. The research results consisted of 15 learning experience provision models for young children, such as gravity-powered toys, battery-powered toys, the differences between a toy using force and a toy using a battery, toy caring, and how to play with toys, etc. Every learning experience provision models has a performance rating according to the 75/75 criteria.

To prepare their students for the increasingly demanding workplace of the 21st century, business schools resort to using experiential learning techniques to make explicit connections between knowledge and experiences students already have, encouraging them to make their own interpretations. In this case study, 50 multilingual students participated in a LEGO Serious Play (LSP) intervention for one academic semester. Due to the continuous rise of the numbers of international students in management schools in the UK in the post-COVID-19 era, researchers and lecturers indicate that additional support is often deemed necessary to promote social justice for multilingual and multicultural students and support their well-being. These students used LSP to make better sense of the assessment criteria and the theories they had to use to respond to the instructions and prepare a group paper and a group oral presentation in terms of a module on intercultural management. Findings revealed that these English as a Second Language (ESL) students were inspired by the use of LSP as it allowed them to reflect on the theories and apply them in creative ways fostering collaboration and creative problem-solving. Students initially felt uneasy to engage in this new approach but then enhanced their performance in their group oral presentations by 35% as they were able to improve their second language competence and intercultural awareness. The article concludes by discussing implications for using LSP with multilingual ESL students to help them overcome linguistic and cultural barriers, offering suggestions for the effective use of game-based techniques in Higher Education.

The research aims to reveal the awareness of children's parents about the hazards of their children's toys from the age groups (1-9 years). To examine the extent of their awareness of toy hazards and assess their attitudes towards them, the "case study" method was used. A survey was also built on the hazards of children's toys for this age group. The research attempted to cover most of the common toys available in the Saudi market. A random sample of 422 individuals who deal with children participated in the research. The findings revealed that the sample's responses to the hazards of toys were not reflective of the real risks. Also, most of the respondents do not read the instructions and warnings attached to the game, due to the lack of an approach or plan. In addition, those instructions and warnings are ambiguous and written in a foreign language which makes them difficult to read. They are often covered by the price tag of the game. The results of the qualitative analysis revealed the sample's perceptions of the forms of hazards in toys. Interpretations varied about the sources of hazards and the interpretation of the instructions attached to them. In light of the current findings, the research recommends that the relevant bodies examine toys according to agreed international standards, and increase consumers' awareness of the role of the GCC Standardization Organization (GSO). There should also be a website for them to communicate directly with the consumer, similar to CPSC, and design national notices directed to the Arab consumer in the Arabic language to impose control over these products and thus protect children from threatening their lives.

A child's home environment has been shown to be related to the development of early numeracy skills in some countries. However, significant relationships between home learning environment and math achievement have not consistently been found, and likely vary across different cultural and socio-political contexts. Here we explored the home environment and early numeracy skills of 243 children (3-5 years), who were not attending preschool programmes in very low-income settings in Cape Town, South Africa. Caregivers completed a questionnaire including information regarding experiences of children in the home; children completed a number identification task, a counting task and the Give-N task. The amount of resources in the home learning environment (e.g. the number of books and toys), frequency of home learning activities caregivers did with their children, and caregiver levels of education and income were not associated with number knowledge. While the home learning environment has been shown to be important for developing early numeracy skills in previous research, this study suggests that factors other than the home learning environment may also be important targets to foster numeracy skills and school readiness in low-income settings in South Africa.

The authors examined technological and traditional infant toys to understand the U.S. toy market facing today's care givers. They found significant differences in the two types of toys in terms of their developmental targets--with more traditional toys aimed at physical development and more technological toys aimed at cognitive development. Given that the toy market is so vast and that technological toys sometimes come with considerable costs, they argue for the need to understand more precisely how toys are marketed to prevent exploitation based on the pursuit of a so-called "brainy baby."

The authors explore children's symbolic play that involves themes of fear and darkness, and they investigate the nature of children's binary oppositions, particularly between self and other. Their account is based on a year-long qualitative study they conducted with seven children, four to ten years of age. They observed the children engage with play materials, including toys and dolls, at home and on virtual sites such as "Roblox." The play episodes they analyze highlight children's dyadic roles and scenarios and the pleasure of their play involving themes of fear. The authors also address the media and cultural representations that provide roles and narratives for the children to extend this dark play.

Diverse books are needed in the classroom so that all children feel valued, but to what extent will teacher candidates include children's literature with diverse representations in their class libraries? A teacher educator uses stories with persona dolls to provide teacher candidates with the opportunity to practice culturally responsive pedagogy in their class library literature selections. After 10 weeks of listening to diverse stories and creating bibliographies that provide the persona dolls with "mirrors," teacher candidates reflected on their level of comfort and plans to include diverse representations in their future class libraries. All teacher candidate participants claimed to plan to include diverse representations related to race and ethnicity and abilities. An overwhelming majority claimed to plan including diverse representations related to religion, language, and family structure. Yet, barely half claimed to plan to include diverse representations of gender in their future class libraries. Reasons teacher candidates provided for not including diverse representations of gender include (a) that children are too young, (b) fear related to parental and administrative response, (c) feeling uneducated about gender diversity, and (d) religious beliefs.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how young children define trust and to find out if there is a relationship between the people whom they trust and the people with whom they share their favorite food and toy. The participants consist of 273 kindergarteners enrolled in five public kindergartens. Research assistants asked the participants questions such as what they think trust is, who they trust, with whom they want to share their favorite food and favorite toy, and why. Findings did not reveal age or gender as factors for children's trust and sharing decisions. Children's trust decisions were not associated with their sharing decisions. Accordingly, it appears that children perceive trust and sharing as two separate concepts. This might be due to the abstract nature of trust and the social nature of sharing, in which immediate reciprocity might play a more important role in children's sharing decisions. Children mentioned reciprocity as the second highest reason for their sharing decisions.

The importance of play is well established in early childhood development; however the importance of play appears to diminish in more advanced levels of education. Despite this, the demand for experiential, engaging learning experiences that seek to differentiate graduate-level programs in a fiercely competitive market continues to increase. This research sought to explore the phenomenon of bringing play and playfulness to the graduate-level classroom as a means through which to enhance creativity, student engagement, and teamwork. The LEGO® Serious Play (LSP) activity was originally created to be used as a facilitation strategy for business executives seeking to enhance innovation and business performance. This research sought to develop a protocol to adapt the LSP activity for masters' students completing a mandatory marketing course. The primary aim of the research considered whether LSP would provide a valuable learning activity for future graduate-level marketing classes. As such, feedback was collected on the activity from students following engagement with LSP. The results of the study provide guidelines for marketing educators to seamlessly incorporate novel activities, such as LSP, into their teaching practice.

"Research Findings:" Although the importance of block play to children's spatial ability has been recognized globally, little is known about children's use of spatial frames of reference during spatial processing. This study investigated the intervention with guided block play to promote children's use of their intrinsic frame of reference, an identified effective frame of reference for spatial information. Participants included 42 kindergarten children (M[subscript age]=67.12 months, SD = 3.91, 48% girls) and 42 pre-kindergarten children (M[subscript age]=55.80 months, SD = 3.63, 57% girls) from one public kindergarten in Shanghai, China. A quasi-experiment method was used with a four-month intervention program designed for the experiment groups. Statistically significant differences were identified in the performance of the spatial tasks between the experiment and control groups in both kindergarten and pre-kindergarten children after the intervention. The results revealed that block-play interventions can effectively increase children's ability to use their intrinsic frame of reference and their preference in using this frame for spatial representations. "Practice or Policy:" These findings provided a new perspective on analyzing children's spatial competence and supported the benefits of block play interventions with empirical evidence.

Research Findings: Although it is well documented that toy play and book sharing shape communication between adults and children in different ways, relatively few studies have compared teacher-child interactions in the two activities. The aim of this observational study was to describe and compare the conversational functions of teachers' and children's interactional contributions during book sharing and toy play. Examining dyads of five- to six-year-old children (N = 38) and their preschool teachers in the two activities, we found that the teachers produced significantly higher proportions of questions during toy play and higher proportions of statements during book sharing and that their questions tended to be more advanced (i.e. inferential) during book sharing compared to toy play. Moreover, sequential analyses of the immediate dependencies between the teachers' and children's contributions revealed that the teachers' statements were more likely to follow the children's questions during toy play than during book sharing, which may suggest more "back-and-forth" communication during play. Practice or Policy: The study findings indicate that toy play and book sharing provide children with complementary communication experiences and that the choice of activity may shape their opportunities to engage in educational dialogs.

Fidget toys are recommended as "sensory" tools to improve the attention and performance of elementary students with autism. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how fidget toys affected the visual attention and skill acquisition of elementary students with autism during storybook reading. Provision of fidget toys was compared with a no-fidget baseline using two separate, concurrent single-case research designs. The provision of fidget toys resulted in a decrease in visual attention for some, but not all, participants. Story detail acquisition was not differentiated between conditions for any participants. Results suggest that the provision of fidget toys may not negatively affect students' acquisition of story details, despite potential decreases in students' attention to storybook reading.

Traditionally, the exogenous control of gaze by external saliencies and the endogenous control of gaze by knowledge and context have been viewed as competing systems, with late infancy seen as a period of strengthening top-down control over the vagaries of the input. Here we found that one-year-old infants control sustained attention through head movements that increase the visibility of the attended object. Freely moving one-year-old infants (n = 45) wore head-mounted eye trackers and head motion sensors while exploring sets of toys of the same physical size. The visual size of the objects, a well-documented salience, varied naturally with the infant's moment-to-moment posture and head movements. Sustained attention to an object was characterized by the tight control of head movements that created and then stabilized a visual size advantage for the attended object for sustained attention. The findings show collaboration between exogenous and endogenous attentional systems and suggest new hypotheses about the development of sustained visual attention.

Today, digital media technologies are ubiquitous and mundane, making the relationship between digital and analog messy and porous. This postdigital condition prompts new analyses of how young children's local encounters with digital media technologies unfold, and how their relationships with digital media technologies carry on after they leave their devices. While sociomaterial approaches to literacy are apt to study how such messy literacies are enacted through singular events, they struggle to account for consistencies that emerge across events. Plugging into the concept of the refrain, we explore how felt consistencies were produced and scored two boys' friendship through and across events as they watched YouTube, played Minecraft, and played with construction playthings. We find that felt refrains of "dwelling in novelty" were enacted, referring to the set-up of conditions where materialities acted together to produce affectively intense moments of surprise. As moments accumulated, deeply felt friendships were produced over time.

This article considers ways in which toys have featured in children's play throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Whilst often dismissed as trivial novelties, toys can be seen as a significant aspect of material culture, both reflecting and constructing ideas of childhood. A multimodal social semiotic perspective is used to examine a selection of toys produced between 2020 and 2022 that respond to the pandemic in various ways. The toys feature representations of the virus, of accessories for enacting pandemic practices such as mask-wearing and vaccination, and of pandemic 'heroes'. In addition to these commercially produced toys, examples of toy play collected by the Play Observatory project from 2020 to 2022 are also analysed. These real-world instances demonstrate toys and everyday objects being used to playfully make sense of, and communicate understandings of, the COVID-19 pandemic. In combination, the examples reveal discourses embedded in the multimodal design of 'pandemic playthings' and ways in which toy play demonstrated children's agentive meaning-making, including awareness and understandings of the pandemic they may not have articulated verbally. In this way, toys and toy play are seen as deeply meaningful, revealing stories about children and childhood in the time of COVID-19.

A Slinky is a loose helical coil spring and is a well-known educational toy. In this paper a model for a Slinky is presented. The Slinky is represented as a sequence of rigid half coils connected by torsional springs. A range of Slinky configurations in static equilibrium are calculated. Where possible the torsion spring model is compared with the much simpler point mass model of a Slinky, and a more sophisticated model that includes axial and shear deformation. The torsional spring model is shown for the most part to produce similar qualitative behaviour as the more complex model. The simplicity of the torsional spring model makes it a candidate for a discrete stair walking dynamic model of a Slinky, The point mass model is straightforward to derive and solve and makes it possible for an undergraduate engineering student in the early part of their degree course to understand. The torsional spring model is a useful tool for showing what can be done in a more advanced mechanics course to model a system that most students would have previous experience of.

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.

The purpose of this study was to identify differences in the length of attention in 2-year-olds across three teaching conditions. A total of 49 2-year-olds were observed within their childcare classrooms. The child's regular classroom teacher was asked to select three highly preferred toys to use in offering the child choices within the teaching conditions of adult presentation (one toy) and adult choice (two toys); the child was given the instruction to "go play" during the child choice condition and could select from any material in the classroom. Children's attention in the adult choice condition was significantly longer. Results from the present study highlight the importance of a highly skilled teacher who has knowledge of child development and an understanding of individual child preferences.

Toys used as a play tool have an important role in the development of children. For this reason, it is necessary to offer children the opportunity to design their own toys. Scientific toys can be used in science lessons to encourage creativity and to teach science concepts and scientific inquiry. With the integrated STEM Education and specifically Engineering Design Process, children can have the ability to design their toys according to their own creativity, while at the same time they can gain many skills through scientific studies. The integration of these designs into education will contribute to the development of engineering skills perceptions and scientific creativity. This study aims to examine the effect of scientific toy design activities based on engineering design process on the scientific creativity of middle school students' and their views on scientific toy design activities. The research conducted for this purpose was carried out over a 9-week period. The study group consists of 40 middle school 7th grade students. The research was carried out with a single group pre-test post-test experimental design method. "Scientific Creativity Test" was used to collect the data. Data were analysed using quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques. As a result of the research, it was determined that the scientific creativity of middle school students improved positively with scientific toy design activities based on the engineering design process.

Since the 2000s, early co-constructive mathematical learning in kindergarten has focused on political discussions and (mathematical-didactic) research. This is because kindergarten is the first place for subject-specific learning, next to socialization in the family. Research on this first institutional learning in the kindergarten often focuses on the interaction between children and elementary school teachers, which is presented as a key variable for these learning processes. However, it is peer interaction that takes up a large part of the day in kindergarten. In these interactions, children negotiate a variety of issues that are relevant to them. The following contribution will present research that focuses on these peer interactions in the context of block play situations. There is a general analysis using methods of (qualitative) thematic analysis as well as a detailed analysis using methods of interpretative classroom research. These analyses will help answer the question as to what role these peer interactions play in early mathematical learning processes and to what extent conditions can emerge in such interactions that enable mathematical learning in the sense of Miller (1987).

In what the author calls an autoethnography, he examines two aspects of his love of a favorite childhood toy: G.I. Joe. First, because the author is a contingent pacificist and this military figure--a fundamentally violent toy--played so important a role in his life, he now seeks to reconcile his aversion to (real life) violence with his enjoyment of G.I. Joe. Second, he explores how his experience as a Third Culture Kid (TCK)--born in the United States, but growing up in Africa--was affected by his enjoyment of G.I. Joe. He combines research, reflection, analysis, and narrative in an account of how his experiences with G.I. Joe may have been manifested in his creativity and how they provided a therapeutic catharsis following his exposure to actual violent conflict. Hopkins also argues for the future use of autoethnography in play studies.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the play behaviors of children aged 60-72 months with respect to individual differences, cultural differences, and special needs differences. The study employs the basic qualitative research method. Fifty-two children enrolled in four different pre-school classes were given toys that featured diversity. The children's play behaviors were analyzed through the researchers' non-participatory observations. The data obtained from the observations was analyzed through content analysis. The study showed that while the preschool children displayed similar behaviors towards both the toys representing individual/cultural diversity and the ones without diversity, their play behaviors towards the toys representing special needs and the roles they assigned to these toys differed greatly in both positive and negative terms.

Erasmus Mundus Joint Master's Degrees (EMJMD) offer a unique opportunity to jointly design and deliver an integrated curriculum of excellence in an international context. This study analyses the case of a Master's Degree specialised in Education: PETaL "Play, Education, Toys and Languages". This is the first EMJMD obtained by the University of Cordoba (Spain) within the framework of the Erasmus+ Program (2014-2020), in coordination with the Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon (Portugal) and Marmara University (Turkey). Through the design, validation and distribution of an online questionnaire, this research aims to examine teachers' opinions on the place of integration in their teaching, as well as on the level of interdisciplinarity in the programme based on Harden's model (2000). This pioneering course represents a favourable context in which to evaluate the "jointness" in the curriculum and other aspects of the teaching-learning process, little explored so far in this context. The results reveal that, foreseeably, the conditions for greater integration in the successive editions are in place. Thus, it is necessary to continue strengthening teaching coordination and the aspects leading to further curricular integration. The study also serves as a reflection on teaching practice and the possibilities for interdisciplinarity in postgraduate education.

Historically, Finnish early childhood education has been largely based on Friedrich Froebel's pedagogy. However, Froebelian pedagogy is no longer as well known in Finland as it once was. We at the Kindergarten Museum in Helsinki wanted to increase awareness of the Froebelian tradition. Together with artist Alexander Reichstein, we came up with the idea of enriching children's play by making use of the idea of Froebel gifts. To this end, we invented a set of equipment called the Froebel box. The aim of our research project is to discover how children learn and interact through Froebel box activities. We use educational design research, which refers to a process in which we develop our pedagogical tool together with the teachers and children from our collaboration Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) centers. The data was collected from three Finnish ECEC centers and analyzed with qualitative content analysis of teacher's interviews. According to our findings, Froebelian applications increase participative play and children's interaction and learning in a holistic way. By playing with giant-sized blocks, children develop their social and motor skills and their mathematical and spatial understanding. Giant blocks are a way that children can express themselves with their bodies. Based on the interviews conducted, in the future we will concentrate on developing the participation of adults in the children's play with the blocks, and on enriching the potential of the Froebel box as a pedagogical tool. There are lots of possibilities for how the Froebel box could be developed as a tool for spatial reasoning that would take into account bodily interaction, the role of teachers in supporting play, and different ways of using spatial concepts for play.

Young children's symbolic representations are important to emergent literacy; therefore, this study focused on children's spontaneous block building and picture drawing in preschool. The goals of this exploratory study were: (1) investigate the relation between the complexity of block play, picture drawing details, and performance on an emergent literacy assessment, (2) analyze block play complexity and its relation to details in picture drawing, and (3) explore the demographic variables related to block play and picture drawing. Nineteen preschool children from a university laboratory school were participants in this study. Results indicated that block play complexity (structure complexity, unique blocks used and total number of blocks used) were highly correlated to children's emergent literacy scores. Additionally, children's picture drawing showed strong relationships to the literacy assessment score. Further, a significant drawing-writing connection was revealed. There were no gender differences found for picture drawing; however, there was a significant gender difference in the number of blocks used during block play, with girls using more than boys. The study suggests that children who demonstrate more complexity in their block building also display more details within their picture drawing.

This study aims to examine the views of mothers regarding plays and toys which are of great significance also for children with intellectual retardation and learning disability. This study was conducted through a mixed method by using qualitative and quantitative methods together. Seventy-five mothers who participated in the study were chosen by using the purposive sampling method in the first stage and the random sampling method in the second stage. Data were collected through the 'Play Skills Scale' and 'Mother Interview Form'. The quantitative data were analysed through Mann-Whitney "U" and Kruskal-Wallis "H" tests and qualitative data were analysed through content analysis. In the qualitative dimension of the study following themes were found; playing with the child, the toys the child plays with, whether the child has a toy he/she always plays with, and whether giving the child the right to choose when buying toys. For the quantitative dimension of the study significant difference was found between the play skill levels, disability type, giving the child the right to choose when buying toys, and toy type variables.

Background: Pretend play is a form of play that involves nonliteral actions. There are limited studies reporting the developmental trends of pretend play behaviours of typically developing pre-schoolers. This knowledge would be beneficial in the early identification of deviations in pre-schoolers who have or are at risk of developing developmental disabilities. Aim: The present study aimed to describe the developmental trends in pretend play skills across different age groups of pre-schoolers. The study also aimed to understand the differential patterns in pretend play observed across the Free Play and Structured Toy Play scenarios. Setting: This study was conducted on pre-schoolers in a classroom of the school. Method: The study followed a cross-sectional study design. Forty-eight participants were recruited for the study and were divided into four groups. A video recording of the child's pretend play skills was recorded using a Sony-HDRCX405 camcorder in Free Play and Structured Toy Play scenarios. The recorded video was coded and analysed for the occurrence of pretend play skills using the Play in Early Childhood Evaluation System (PIECES) coding scheme. Results: The study results depict a developmental trend in the occurrences of pretend play skills in pre-schoolers. It also emphasises the importance of amalgamation of Structured Toy Play and Free Play scenarios for the child's holistic development because of the unique benefits of each scenario. Conclusion: The study findings could help in the formulation of Individualised Education Programme objectives for typically developing children and children with developmental disabilities involving play, thus enabling these children experience normalised, contextually pertinent experiences like their peers.

Fidget toys have been marketed as universal educational supports in the absence of a scientific evidence base. This article gives an overview of the existing literature on the effect of fidget toy use on student attention, behavior, and learning, and a review of two competing theoretical approaches to fidget toys: sensory processing theory and cognitive load theory. Currently, there is not sufficient support for the implementation of fidget toys in the classroom. Suggestions for best practice when using fidget toys in an educational setting are included.

Child-directed language can support language learning, but how? We addressed two questions: (1) how caregivers prosodically modulated their speech as a function of word familiarity (known or unknown to the child) and accessibility of referent (visually present or absent from the immediate environment); (2) whether such modulations affect children's unknown word learning and vocabulary development. We used data from 38 English-speaking caregivers (from the ECOLANG corpus) talking about toys (both known and unknown to their children aged 3-4 years) both when the toys are present and when absent. We analyzed prosodic dimensions (i.e., speaking rate, pitch and intensity) of caregivers' productions of 6529 toy labels. We found that unknown labels were spoken with significantly slower speaking rate, wider pitch and intensity range than known labels, especially in the first mentions, suggesting that caregivers adjust their prosody based on children's lexical knowledge. Moreover, caregivers used slower speaking rate and larger intensity range to mark the first mentions of toys that were physically absent. After the first mentions, they talked about the referents louder with higher mean pitch when toys were present than when toys were absent. Crucially, caregivers' mean pitch of unknown words and the degree of mean pitch modulation for unknown words relative to known words (pitch ratio) predicted children's immediate word learning and vocabulary size 1 year later. In conclusion, caregivers modify their prosody when the learning situation is more demanding for children, and these helpful modulations assist children in word learning.

Learning to walk leads to an increase in language abilities; however, the underlying mechanisms accounting for this relation remain unclear. Investigating the quality of early gait control may offer some insights. The purpose of this study was to: (1) quantify how 13-month-olds (n = 39; 39% male) and 24-month-olds (n = 39; 59% male) adapt gait based on task (carrying vs. not carrying objects), object characteristics (size and weight), and environmental constraints (free play vs. structured); and to (2) assess how changes in gait relate to language abilities. To assess gait differences, Midwestern participants engaged in a free-play session and structured task with toys varying in size and weight while wearing motion capture markers. Parents completed an age-appropriate version of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory to measure language abilities. During free play, 13-month-olds were selective when choosing what to carry basing their decisions on object weight over size and adapting their upper-body control based on weight. Neither age group modified lower-body gait due to object characteristics but did reorganize their upper-body control. These upper-body adaptations were dependent upon age, environmental context, and task. Importantly, more mature upper-body control and more time spent in motion during free play were significant predictors of 13-month-olds' language abilities. Gait improvements may offer new opportunities for language learning; increased stability may allow young children to better focus on the objects, potentially enhancing word learning opportunities. Early movements and functional behavior during free play may be important predictors underlying the association between the onset of walking and language development.

Given the established role of parental talk in the growth of math knowledge in preschoolers, there has been an increasing focus on identifying ways to promote parental math talk at this stage of child development. The current study investigated how parental math talk is affected by features of play materials and contexts. The features were manipulated along two dimensions: homogeneity (whether the toys were unique or included identical sets) and boundedness (whether the number of toys was restricted). Parent-child dyads (n = 75, child's age: 4-6) from China were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: unique objects-unbounded range, homogeneous sets-unbounded range, and homogeneous sets-bounded range. In all conditions, dyads played games in two contexts that varied in the extent to which they were typically associated with math-party preparation and grocery shopping. As expected, more parental math talk was observed in the grocery shopping than in the party preparation context. Importantly, the manipulation of features within context also affected the amount and nature of parental math talk: homogeneity increased absolute magnitude talk, and boundedness increased relative magnitude talk. The results provide support for the cognitive alignment framework, underscoring the importance of aligning the features of materials with targeted concepts and demonstrating the possibility of impacting parental math talk through small manipulations of play materials.

Most research on dual language learners (DLLs) in preschool has focused on language and literacy development. Less work has been done on their play and social interactions, in spite of the importance of these for development and learning. Although DLLs possess many social strengths, they also face challenges, particularly in an English-dominant classroom. In the present investigation we examined the influence of three factors on DLLs play interactions with peers in preschool: teacher support, peer interactions, and play materials. We recorded the free play of 12 DLLs who were of low English proficiency in English-dominant classrooms and coded aspects of these three factors. Using multiple regression analysis we identified four variables that predicted the frequency of DLLs' interactions with their peers. Teacher interactions in play that included a child's home language--though not overall teacher contact, alone--verbal and positive play behaviors by peers, and the availability of blocks and replica play toys. Implications of our findings for classroom practice are offered.

The vast majority of joint attention interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are geared toward toddlers and preschoolers as it is an early developmental skill. However, many of the youngsters do not acquire joint attention despite these early interventions and subsequently do not exhibit joint attention later in life. In the current study, we used a multiple baseline design across three school-aged, non-verbal children with ASD, to assess the efficacy of a functional play intervention to increase joint attention. During baseline, all three children demonstrated minimal joint attention and appropriate play. Following baseline, the functional play intervention was presented, which consisted of teaching functional play through modeling. Post-intervention probes demonstrated gains in both joint attention and functional play. Furthermore, these behaviors generalized across person, setting, and stimuli. The results of this study provide evidence that functional play interventions may be a promising approach to teach and promote joint attention for older, school-aged children with ASD.

The purpose of this article is to explore the relationship between technology integration and play from a whole child perspective, specifically through online play groups. As play continues to decline and vanish from our schools completely, the author believes we must reexamine the countless benefits of play across STREAM education. With current digital advancements, children will adapt to online play and continue to develop their creative and analytical skills. The author suggests that with continued support from parents and educators, children who are encouraged to have a say in what and how they learn can use online play to build a solid STREAM foundation.

Community engaged learning has demonstrated educational benefits and is an especially promising method to engage a diverse group of students in engineering. In this work, we present toy adaptation for children with disabilities as a novel community engaged learning tool. According to students surveyed, this process is enjoyable, demonstrates the impact of engineering, and makes students feel more connected to engineering. Female students were especially impacted by toy adaptation, feeling more empowered by the experience, finding the experience more useful, and more often seeing the positive impact of engineering. Additionally, toy adaptation is highly translatable due to its short-term nature, low cost, and opportunity to leverage community connections through existing networks. Given the widespread need for adapted toys, the translatability of toy adaptation, and the overwhelmingly positive student feedback, we anticipate that toy adaptation will engage students in circuitry, inspire diverse students to pursue engineering, and provide developmentally essential toys to communities.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the use of the action-based manipulatives affects students' problem-solving skills, fluency, understanding, and reasoning ability in mathematics classrooms. A case study was conducted as an out-of-school project with seven second grade students who were part of the study group. Data collection instruments included interview protocols, student observation forms, and student worksheets. Data were collected from the students and their parents. Linguistic and content validity were checked by experts in the field. Finally, the data were analyzed descriptively. The results showed that the performance of the students was above 85%. Solving questions with both software and physical materials made the learning process easy. Students socialized and shared opinions and solutions. Parents reported that the use of this teaching tool encouraged students' creativity in learning abstract concepts and provided opportunities for regular communication and cooperative group work in class. As a result, students learned alternative ways to solve problems, which improved their problem-solving skills and mathematical fluency. Constructing physical models using LEGO materials and MathBuilder software also facilitated their understanding of abstract concepts. The suggestions presented in this study are important and pave the way for the use of hands-on materials and 3D software for teaching abstract concepts in the classroom.

The study aims to determine the status of organizing science activities for preschoolers aged 5-6 and teachers' views on improving science education quality for 5-6-year-olds in Vietnam. The research was undertaken on 150 preschool teachers working with 5-6 years old classes in 24 public preschools in 3 provinces, including Quang Binh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien Hue. Mixed methods, including surveys, interviews with teachers, and observation of science discovery activities, were used. According to the study results, science education activities were regularly organized in the preschools with specific plans following the school-year curriculum and the national ECE framework of Vietnam. Teachers used various methods and forms for organizing scientific activities, but the classroom environment was dominant. The participation of family and society in science activities at preschools was limited. Teachers also highlight some measures to improve the quality of science education in preschools, including providing necessary facilities, equipment, toys for preschools and increasing modern teaching methods. The findings of this study provide necessary evidence on science education for preschool children in practical terms as the basis for further studies on solutions to improve the efficiency of science education for preschool children in Vietnam.

If one wants to close the gender gap in STEM, girls need to start STEM courses. The stereotypical socialization does not lead girls in the direction of science and technology. And although the influence of parents does decrease with age it is often still present in the initial choice of study. Therefore, this study explores the role of the parents on girls' choice for a career in STEM. Qualitative individual semi-structured interviews with parents of girls in the last grade of primary education were conducted. Results show that specific characteristics of the parents can possibly have a positive influence on their children's school career and choice for STEM.

Finding context, examples, and ample hands-on experimentation is fundamental for understanding complex ideas in subjects such as science and math. Recent popularity of competitive robotics has become a catalyst in the development of DIY and hobby kits. Manufacturers have made available easy to work, re-configurable, and functional, structural elements as well as control electronics. Additionally, extensive participation from the open-source software community is providing cutting edge and effective software. Despite all the right ingredients, competitive robotics continues to be unregulated and non-standardized. Additionally, in absence of regulations and standards, the organizers, suppliers, educators, and participants are left to their own means and resources that necessarily may not align with systematic learning. The cost of approved competitive kits as well as field kits becomes inhibitive for students from poorer communities. This paper surveys a wide range of competitive robotics avenues available to school-age students. A survey with various stake holders including participants, mentors, referees, and organizers is done and findings are included. A path for standardizing competitive robotics within the framework of the World Robotics League is found to be an effective tool to train the students. A description of the World Robotics League framework and initial findings are reported.