Parental beliefs and practices regarding motor development vary across cultures. However, there is a gap in cross-cultural studies focusing on minority groups. This mixed-methods study explores the cultural construction of infant motor development within the Druze-Israeli (Druze-IL) minority group. Using questionnaires, we measured beliefs,…

The early years of childhood represent a critical time frame in emotional development. This qualitative study sought to elucidate the impact of parental relationships and parents' emotional intelligence on young children's development of emotional intelligence capacity, as well as changes in this development when a dyadic clinical intervention was…

Infants and toddlers spend a substantial amount of their time in out-of-home care, and are thus being tended to not only by their mothers but also by their caregivers. It is therefore of considerable importance to study the effects of caregiver-infant compared to mother-infant interactions. To address this issue, first, various variables of…

Spatial language and ability play important roles in children's cognitive development. Spatial ability in kindergarten predicts achievement in reading, math, science, and technology in primary school and therefore constitutes an important skill set in preparation for school entrance. Good spatial thinking skills are required for learning in…

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) has the potential to address a range of goals, yet delivering on the potential of ECEC requires a workforce that is equipped and motivated to meet the unique demands of facilitating young children's development, learning and well-being. The OECD Starting Strong Teaching and Learning International Survey…

A foundational mechanism underlying human cooperation is reciprocity. In the context of repeated interactions with others, it is not always clear the degree to which in-kind responses reflect responsiveness to partners' prior behaviors ("reactive" responses), an interest unrelated to the partner ("nonreactive" responses), or…

This study examined the implementation of a biodanza program in a kindergarten for five-year-olds. The purpose of the project was to understand the contribution of biodanza to social-emotional learning (SEL) of kindergarten children. The exposure of children to biodanza made it possible to stimulate a social-emotional aspects of children's…

Early detection of autism spectrum condition is crucial for children to maximally benefit from early intervention. The study examined a machine learning model predicting the increased likelihood for autism from wellness records from 0 to 24 months. The study included 591,989 non-autistic and 12,846 autistic children. A gradient boosting model with…

Autobiographical theatre usually brings to the forefront personal experiences that have been hidden or silenced, while the autoethnographic approach emphasises their social dimensions. This article looks at "Night Watchers" (an autobiographical/autoethnographic piece) featuring three artists who, using acting, painting, and poetry, tell…

The importance of outdoor learning to support children's learning and development has been recognized by research and policy. It carries the potential for social interactions, and authentic, informal, and playful learning. It fosters curiosity and creativity and develops the ability to deal with uncertain and risky situations. The Israeli Ministry…

The out-group homogeneity effect has been found to contribute to adults' inter-group biases. Three studies examined whether 5- and 8-year-old Arab (i.e., minority) children in Israel also manifest this effect (March 2017-January 2020). Arab children from different religious affiliations and social environments (N = 272, 54% females) were asked to…

This paper examines constructive play in the context of Waldorf and normative kindergartens in Israel. In conceptualizing the output of children's construction, the current research relies upon the fields of problem-solving and technological thinking, using the design process model. The research results were based on a sample of 39 construction…

Social rejection is an undesirable phenomenon with serious present and future implications for children who experience it. Growing rates of social rejection and bullying in elementary-school children, especially on social networks, have been examined mostly from a pathological perspective focused on the rejected child or rejecting group. This…

The Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS), PEDS: Developmental Milestones (PEDS: DM) and PEDS tools (i.e., the PEDS and PEDS:DM combined for use) are parent-reported screening tools frequently used to identify young children requiring early intervention. An ideal screening tool for all contexts would be brief, inexpensive with…

This article examines the political socialization of young children who live under conditions of intractable conflict. We present four premises: First, we argue that, within the context of intractable conflict, political socialization begins earlier and faster than previously suspected, and is evident among young children. Second, we propose that…