Eager To Engage: Young Nigerian Children’s Interactions With Novel Play Materials

The purpose of this study was to observe, analyze, and document young Nigerian children’s interactions with novel play materials at their crèche. To date, limited studies have examined Nigerian infants’ and toddlers’ independent engagement with novel play materials. The children’s exploratory and play behaviours—cognitive and social play—were observed. An a priori coding scheme was used to simultaneously analyze cognitive and social play behaviours in the children, eight participants between 7- and 24-months of age. Over the course of four weeks, children were introduced to 11 novel play materials. Observed cognitive play behaviours included functional play, pretend play and constructive play, while social play behaviours consisted of solitary, parallel and simple social play. Although the results showed developmental progression in exploration and play, the varying degree of novelty of the play materials may have influenced children’s exploration and play. Despite these findings, children exhibited various exploratory and play behaviours with the introduction of play materials in a setting in which there were none.

Eager To Engage: Young Nigerian Children’s Interactions With Novel Play Materials

The purpose of this study was to observe, analyze, and document young Nigerian children’s interactions with novel play materials at their crèche. To date, limited studies have examined Nigerian infants’ and toddlers’ independent engagement with novel play materials. The children’s exploratory and play behaviours—cognitive and social play—were observed. An a priori coding scheme was used to simultaneously analyze cognitive and social play behaviours in the children, eight participants between 7- and 24-months of age. Over the course of four weeks, children were introduced to 11 novel play materials. Observed cognitive play behaviours included functional play, pretend play and constructive play, while social play behaviours consisted of solitary, parallel and simple social play. Although the results showed developmental progression in exploration and play, the varying degree of novelty of the play materials may have influenced children’s exploration and play. Despite these findings, children exhibited various exploratory and play behaviours with the introduction of play materials in a setting in which there were none.

Associations between Children’s Risky Play and ECEC Outdoor Play Spaces and Materials

Children spend a large amount of time each day in early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions, and the ECEC play environments are important for children’s play opportunities. This includes children’s opportunities to engage in risky play. This study examined the relationship between the outdoor play environment and the occurrence of children’s risky play in ECEC institutions. Children (n = 80) were observed in two-minute sequences during periods of the day when they were free to choose what to do. The data consists of 935 randomly recorded two-minute videos, which were coded second by second for several categories of risky play as well as where and with what materials the play occurred. Results revealed that risky play (all categories in total) was positively associated with fixed equipment for functional play, nature and other fixed structures, while analysis of play materials showed that risky play was positively associated with wheeled toys. The results can support practitioners in developing their outdoor areas to provide varied and exciting play opportunities.

On the Meanings of Functional Play: A Review and Clarification of Definitions

The term functional play is used widely and variably in serving young children developing with delays, affecting its use in research and practice. It also is confused with play as a functional goal. We reviewed studies that used the term. Of 146 reports, less than half included a definition. We organized those with definitions into two groups: one in terms of appropriate use of toys and the other in terms of motor activities. We conclude that the toy-directed focus subsumed in appropriate use is subject to wide variation in interpretation, and it should not be used as a category of play. It does not explicitly take into account children’s developmental progress in play. We recommend the term should be reserved for activities that support engagement and interest. Such activities represent play as functional for a child, requiring an understanding of children’s progress in play, which is play that is child-focused.

Symbolic play provides a fertile context for language development

In this study we test the hypothesis that symbolic play represents a fertile context for language acquisition because its inherent ambiguity elicits communicative behaviours that positively influence development. Infant-caregiver dyads (N = 54) participated in two 20-minute play sessions six months apart (Time 1 = 18 months, Time 2 = 24 months). During each session the dyads played with two sets of toys that elicited either symbolic or functional play. The sessions were transcribed and coded for several features of dyadic interaction and speech; infants’ linguistic proficiency was measured via parental report. The two play contexts resulted in different communicative and linguistic behaviour. Notably, the symbolic play condition resulted in significantly greater conversational turn-taking than functional play, and also resulted in the greater use of questions and mimetics in infant-directed speech (IDS). In contrast, caregivers used more imperative clauses in functional play. Regression analyses showed that unique properties of symbolic play (i.e., turn-taking, yes-no questions, mimetics) positively predicted children’s language proficiency, whereas unique features of functional play (i.e., imperatives in IDS) negatively predicted proficiency. The results provide evidence in support of the hypothesis that symbolic play is a fertile context for language development, driven by the need to negotiate meaning.