Pretend play has been claimed to be crucial to children's healthy development. Here we
examine evidence for this position versus 2 alternatives: Pretend play is 1 of many routes to …

During the first eighteen months of life, infants acquire and refine a whole set of new motor
skills that significantly change the ways in which the body moves in and interacts with the …

Although Montessori education is often considered a form of playful learning, Maria
Montessori herself spoke negatively about a major component of playful learning--pretend …

The aim of this article is to provide clinicians and researchers a comprehensive overview of
the development and functions of gesture in childhood and in select populations with …

A developmental relationship between symbolic play and language has been long
proposed, going as far back as the writings of Piaget and Vygotsky. In the current paper we …

This text provides preservice and inservice teachers with comprehensive information
regarding how children who are deaf learn to use language in face-to-face communication …

I would like to thank my contributors for making my editorial duties in preparing this volume
so enjoyable. The outstanding quality of their contributions and of their writing made the …

Pretending is among the most interesting activities of childhood. As many have noted,
pretending appears to be an early expression of the child's ability to use and understand …

In 21 essays on communicative gesturing in the first two years of life, this vital collection
demonstrates the importance of gesture in a child's transition to a linguistic system …

Why do people gesture while speaking? What role does this activity play in verbal
exchanges? Which kind of relationship does it exhibit between the verbal and the gestural …