Unstructured playtime at school, such as recess and afterschool activities, is essential for children's social development but often becomes a setting for bullying. Despite effective bystander programs, research on students' willingness to intervene in these contexts remains limited. This cross-sectional study used mixed methods to investigate the…

Background: Students make many errors in visual programming. In order to learn from these, it is important that students regulate their emotions and view errors as learning opportunities. Aims: This study aimed to explore to what extent momentary emotions, specifically enjoyment, anxiety and boredom, as well as the error learning orientation of…

In response to growing recognition for the mental health impacts of climate change, understanding the full range of children's psychological experiences in climate change education (CCE) contexts is critical to developing approaches that support children's constructive engagement and overall well-being. Through surveys and focus groups conducted…

This study explored the impact of authentic out-of-school learning on students' beliefs about their science learning efficacy and career aspirations. The learning activity, designed following an authentic learning framework, was led by research scientists. We examined how students' emotions, induced in an authentic scientific activity, mediated…

Autobiographical memory supports three functions of remembering past, the self, social, and directive. Previous studies undertaken with adults recalling their play experiences have identified three aspects: the ages between 7 and 12 years are key; there are significant adults involved in the play and location that play talks place. This paper,…

The phenomena of connection, competence, and self-efficacy have not been explored in the context of an after-school girls club. The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of nine girls engaged in a quilting project in an after-school program for expressions of connection, competence, and self-efficacy using a feminist quilting…

Currently, little is known about the lived experiences of children who participate in yoga, particularly using their own words. This study provides insights into how young children aged 6 to 10 years old were able to understand their bodies within a yoga space. The purpose of this study was to investigate young children's lived experiences of yoga…

Guided by the conceptual framework of the Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program (CSPAP), the purpose of this study was to determine if a walking club after school for teachers and students increased physical activity levels, reduced stress, and improved mood. The participants were 51 (67% male, 33% female) fourth- to eighth-grade students…

Background/Context: After-school programs that focus on integrating computer programming and mathematics in authentic environments are seldomly accessible to students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, particularly bilingual Latina students in rural contexts. Providing a context that broadens Latina students' participation in…

In this paper, we share about specific tenets of joy in mathematics and conditions for supporting joy. A pair of students, Julia and Javier, young Latinx mathematicians in Grades 3 and 4 respectively, participated in a study that involved addition and subtraction with negative integers within game play. Drawing on descriptions of joy and…

The purpose of this study was to identify the internal and external factors that support the academic and career resourcefulness of adolescents from underserved backgrounds. This mixed-methods study examined the experiences of 13 low-income adolescent participants who lived in public housing and participated in an afterschool program in the…

Preparing students with robust life skills, including social-emotional skills, is of paramount importance in today's world, particularly for children growing up in adversity. Dream a Dream was founded by 11 young people who wanted to engage with children who were terminally ill, abandoned, or HIV infected. The idea was to organize activities and…

Low family socioeconomic status (SES) has been noted to impact children and youths' development, specifically in cognitive skills and risky behaviors (Brieant et al., 2021). Low SES often increases stressors for parents, may hinder monitoring of youth if parents must work multiple jobs, and may impact child-parent quality time and bonding (Conger…

Program quality is an important topic for improving out-of-school time youth development programs. High levels of program quality may contribute to enhanced positive youth development outcomes. This paper explores aspects of program quality in the California 4-H Youth Development Program and its relationship to positive youth development outcomes.…

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, children, families, and educators faced unprecedented challenges that disproportionally impacted racially/ethnically diverse, low-income communities due to long-standing health system, socioeconomic, and educational inequities. With closures of schools, libraries, and child-care centers, many children were disconnected…