Journal articles on the topic 'Children's plays. [from old catalog]'

Purpose – The purposes of this paper are to investigate the effects of integrated advertising formats on the persuasion of children, children’s awareness of the persuasive intent of these formats and how this awareness mediates the level of persuasion. Design/methodology/approach – An one-factor between-subjects experiment was conducted among 117 boys from 8 to 12 years old. Findings – This study showed that boys were more aware of the persuasive intent of a non-integrated catalog than of a brand-integrated magazine. In addition, higher awareness of the persuasive intent of the catalog enhanced persuasion in boys. Research limitations/implications – This study only focused on boys’ responses and not on girls. Practical implications – Findings imply that advertisers could focus on non-integrated print advertising formats, such as catalogs, to promote positive product attitudes among boys. Catalogs are also a more ethical way of communicating to boys because boys are generally aware of catalogs’ persuasive intent. Social implications – This study implies that even if children have sufficient persuasion knowledge, they do not necessarily use it to critically evaluate advertising. Originality/value – This paper is the first to systematically test the differences in effects of brand-integrated magazines versus catalogs targeted toward children. Importantly, it shows that persuasion knowledge plays a fundamentally different role in the persuasion process of children than of adults: awareness of the persuasive intent of catalogs increases persuasion among boys, whereas previous studies among adults showed opposite results.

This study explores the role of paradigm uniformity bias in the acquisition of Korean verbal inflections. Paradigm uniformity bias has been proposed in a constraint-based phonological framework, but has rarely been supported by experimental data. This paper provides experimental evidence for paradigm uniformity bias from four- to seven-year-old Korean children learning their native language phonology. Experiment 1 demonstrates that children alter morphological structures in order to produce non-alternating verb forms. Experiment 2 shows that the tendency to adjust morphological structures is rooted in children's preference for uniform paradigms, not in their ignorance of alternations. The results suggest that paradigm uniformity bias plays a role in determining children's preferred production patterns, which favour non-alternating forms even after they have acquired adult-like knowledge of the patterns of alternations.

Aims: To quantify the impact of the South African old age (social) pension on outcomes for pensioners and the prime-aged adults and children who live with them, and to examine alternative means by which pensions affect household outcomes. Methods: We collected socioeconomic data on 290 households in the Agincourt demographic surveillance area (DSA), stratifying our sample on the presence of a household member age-eligible for the old-age pension (women aged 60 and older, men aged 65 and older). Results: The presence of a pensioner significantly reduces household reports that adults and, separately, children missed meals because there was not enough money for food. In addition, girls are significantly more likely to be enrolled in school if they are living with a pensioner, an effect that is driven entirely by living with a female pensioner. Our results are consistent with a model in which pensioners have a greater say in household functioning once they begin to receive their pensions. Conclusions: We find a program targeted toward the elderly plays a significant role in children's health and development.

Abstract Using data from the 1995 Malawi Financial Markets and Food Security Survey, this study seeks to discover if rural Malawian women's relative control over household resources or intra-household bargaining power, gauged by their access to microcredit, plays a role in young children's food security. Access to microcredit is assessed in a novel way as self-reported credit limits at microcredit organizations. Since credit limits, that is, the maximum sums that might be borrowed, hinge upon supply-side factors such as the availability of credit programs and the financial resources of lenders, it is plausible they are more exogenous than demand driven loan uptake or participation in microcredit organizations, the common ways of gauging access to microcredit. It is found that household expenditure on food significantly increases in women's, though not in men's, access to microcredit. Thus, increasing rural Malawian women's relative control over household resources may yield children greater food security. It is also found that women's access to microcredit improves 0–6 year old girls', though not boys', long-term nutrition. Thus, empowering these women may deliver more benefit to girls than boys.

MP-ASI plays a role important in support Child growth . If mom not quick introduce MPASI with the right way for children moment he enter 6 months old , growing the flower can just disturbed . Activity MP-ASI socialization to mothers for Improving the Nutritional Status of Children carried out on day Tuesday, November 22, 2022 at the Village Office Dewi Sri District sea tador . Destination beginning MPASI socialization is for give understanding to women in the village area goddess sri that so important quality nutrition given to child ages 6-24 months as MPASI because in Century it's exclusive breastfeeding just no enough Fulfill nutrition child for grow and develop optimally. Reluctantly increasing knowledge moms regarding MPASI which is very important for the golden age child in grow and develop optimally. So will many mothers who will give solids in the right way, and follow existing rules like give eat appropriate time it means given when child already ready for eat, with sufficient nutrition from various menu options and types rich food carbohydrates , proteins and fats. And all his served in circumstances hygienic and processed by the mother yourself and given in a manner responsive .

Temporal orienting of attention operates by biasing the allocation of cognitive and motor resources in specific moments in time, resulting in the improved processing of information from expected compared with unexpected targets. Recent findings have shown that temporal orienting operates relatively early across development, suggesting that this attentional mechanism plays a core role for human cognition. However, the exact neurophysiological mechanisms allowing children to attune their attention over time are not well understood. In this study, we presented 8- to 12-year-old children with a temporal cueing task designed to test (1) whether anticipatory oscillatory dynamics predict children's behavioral performance on a trial-by-trial basis and (2) whether anticipatory oscillatory neural activity may be supported by cross-frequency phase–amplitude coupling as previously shown in adults. Crucially, we found that, similar to what has been reported in adults, children's ongoing beta rhythm was strongly coupled with their theta rhythm and that the strength of this coupling distinguished validly cued temporal intervals, relative to neutral cued trials. In addition, in long trials, there was an inverse correlation between oscillatory beta power and children's trial-by-trial reaction, consistent with oscillatory beta power reflecting better response preparation. These findings provide the first experimental evidence that temporal attention in children operates by exploiting oscillatory mechanism.

Vitamin D receptors are widely expressed in brain tissue, including in the limbic system that plays a role in children's mental and emotional development. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between 25-(OH)-D level and children's mental-emotional development during their first 1000 days of life. A cross-sectional study was conducted on children aged ≤2 years old in Waled and Sukabumi regions using secondary data from previous cohort investigations entitled "The Role of Vitamin D in Efforts to Reduce Maternal and Infant mortality". The measurement of 25-(OH)-D concentration and assessment of the mental-emotional development were performed using the Ages and Stages Questionnaires: Social-Emotional (ASQ-SE) questionnaire. Other child and maternal characteristics, and several laboratory results, were also obtained. Statistical analyses were performed using the Spearman rank, Pearson correlation test, and multivariate linear regression analysis. A total of ninety-two children were included, and the median vitamin D level of the population was 20.17 ng/mL (IQR 4.43–49.97). The correlation analysis showed that no significant relationship between children's mental-emotional scores and the parameters tested, including the concentration of 25-(OH)-D (correlation coefficient 0.08; p=0.446). There was no relationship between the vitamin D concentration and mental-emotional development. Based on these results, it is concluded that there is no correlation between 25-(OH)-D concentration and children’s mental-emotional development during the first 1000 days of life. However, further investigations are recommended to eliminate various confounding factors.

Playing A Bike To Train The Rude Motor Ability Of Children Age 5-6 Years Old. During the Covid-19 pandemic, children with active characteristics will of course feel bored with games in the house that are less free. And children feel limited in exploring physical activities related to gross motor skills. Children at an early age are very important to carry out physical movements with the aim of stimulating the physical growth of children's motor skills, both fine and gross motor skills. To make children excited about doing physical activities, one of them is by inviting them to ride bikes together. In a joint cycling situation, direct observations can be made and also ask what children feel when playing a bicycle, the research conducted by the author uses a case study of a child aged 5-6 years who plays a two-wheeled bicycle with a focus on training the child's gross motor skills. , namely by locomotor, non-locomotor, and manipulative movements. From what has been done during the activity of playing bicycles, all of the movements made by children when playing bicycles have all referred to the gross motor skills of children, especially children aged 5-6 years.

ObjectivesPathogenetic mechanisms of hyperkinetic syndrome (HKS) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are not clear.AimTo elucidate some aspects of monoamine involvement in pathogenesis of disorder and response of monoaminergic systems to psychostimulant medication.MethodsLevels of different monoamines, their metabolites and N-methylnicotinamide (end product of kynurenine pathway) were measured in daily samples of urine from children (7–11 years old) with mild and severe HKS using fluorimetric and chromatographic methods as well as platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity. Thirty children with mild HKS received psychostimulant Sydnocarb 5–15 mg daily for 1–1.5 months (for ethical reasons children with severe HKS were not included in study).ResultsHKS was accompanied by activation of dopaminergic and inhibition of noradrenergic systems. There were found metabolic differences between two forms of HKS. Compared with mild HKS, severe HKS was characterized by significant 2-fold increase of MAO activity and L-dopa, dopamine and adrenaline excretion. After sydnocarb treatment children's clinical status improved along with decrease of excretion of homovanillic, vanillylmandelic and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acids and increase of N-methylnicotinamide.ConclusionsResults indicate that dopaminergic and noradrenergic systems play important role in pathogenesis of HKS. Clinical improvement of HKS children was accompanied by significant increase of N-methylnicotinamide excretion. It is proposed that increased urine excretion of kynurenine metabolite–N-methylnicotinamide and N-methylnicotinamide/5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid ratio can serve as potential biomarkers for evaluation of efficacy of psychostimulant medication. We hypothesize that kynurenine system plays significant role in pathogenesis of HKS/ADHD.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Abstract Background: Fetal hemoglobin (HbF, α2g2) induction is known to reduce the clinical complications of sickle cell anemia (SCA). Progress in identifying novel HbF inducing strategies has been slowed by an incomplete understanding of gamma-globin regulation. We have used natural genetic variation to identify novel genes and pathways associated with HbF levels in patients with SCA, beginning with whole exome sequencing (WES). This approach identified FOXO3, a transcription factor important for insulin signaling and erythroid maturation, among other functions, as a positive regulator of HbF. We then confirmed the role of FOXO3 in HbF regulation with functional studies in erythroid culture (Zhang, Blood 2018). To overcome the limitations of WES, namely the absence of regulatory and promotor sequencing data, we performed whole genome sequencing (WGS) on 658 pediatric SCA patients, and analyzed the data for common variants predictive of HbF levels. Methods : WGS was performed on a cohort of 658 pediatric patients with HbSS and HbSβ0 with IRB approval from Texas Children's Hospital, and from St Jude Children's Research Hospital, as part of the Sickle Cell Clinical Research and Intervention Program (Hankins et al 2018). Baseline HbF levels, not on hydroxyurea therapy, was measured by HPLC. Subjects were between 6 months and 21 years of age from both institutions; 52% were male. We used mixed linear regression models to screen for variants associated with transformed HbF values, and performed ridge regression with 10-fold cross-validation to confirm associations after adjustment for HBG and BCL11A-associated variants, age, sex, and race (determined by principal components analysis). Hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) from 3 patients (all HbSS) were treated with recombinant human IGFBP3 (1µg/ml) beginning on day 7 of two-phase culture. Effects of IGFBP3 on gamma-globin expression were evaluated by RT-qPCR, and on HbF levels by HPLC, on days 14 and 21 of culture. The effects of IGFBP3 on known modifiers of HbF and the FOXO3 pathway were assessed by RT-qPCR and western blot on day 21 of culture. Erythroid maturation was assessed by flow cytometry using anti-CD71, GPA, and Band3 on day 21 of culture. Results: Our whole genome sequencing data identified a strong association between all 11 variants 200 kb upstream of IGFBP3 and baseline HbF levels (p<1x10-9). The association of IGFBP3 variants with HbF remained after correcting for HBG and BCL11A variants in addition to patient age, sex, and race (p<0.001). Eleven SNPs were tested, and corrected for multiple testing. Mean HbF levels for patients heterozygous for an IGFBP3 variant predicted to alter IGFBP3 levels as determined by NESDA conditional eQTL catalog (Jenson et al, 2017) were 43% higher compared to patients without a variant (t-test p<0.0002). In erythroblasts treated with IGFBP3, gamma globin expression doubled compared to untreated (p=0.01). %HbF in IGFBP3 treated cells at day 21 of culture was the same as on day 14, while the HbF of untreated cells declined (Figure 1). IGFBP3 did not alter expression of known gamma globin regulators BCL11A, KLF1, and MYB, nor did it alter erythroid maturation as measured by flow cytometry with anti-CD71, GPA, and Band3, and morphologic examination. Conclusions: WGS analysis identified variants in the regulatory region of IGFBP3 as associated with higher levels of HbF. Addition of exogenous human recombinant IGFBP3 to HSPCs prevented the physiologic decline of HbF, resulting in higher %HbF levels in erythroblasts, functionally confirming the association. Exogenous IGFBP3 did not arrest maturation, supporting our hypothesis that IGFBP3 affects HbF production directly via gamma globin induction, rather than through manipulation of maturation. IGFBP3 did not alter expression of known regulators of HbF (BCL11A, KLF1, and MYB). These findings are compatible with our prior data identifying FOXO3 as a positive regulator of gamma globin, and our use of metformin as a HbF inducer in an ongoing clinical trial. Metformin increases IGFBP3 levels, and it has been shown that increases in IGFBP3 lead to activation of FOXO3 through the insulin signaling pathway. We therefore conclude that the insulin signaling pathway plays a significant role in gamma-globin regulation and is an important therapeutic target for HbF induction in patients with SCA. Disclosures Hankins: Global Blood Therapeutics: Research Funding; bluebird bio: Consultancy; Novartis: Research Funding; NCQA: Consultancy. Estepp:Global Blood Therapeutics: Consultancy, Research Funding; NHLBI: Research Funding; Daiichi Sankyo: Consultancy; ASH Scholar: Research Funding.

Introduction: "Blue whale challenge" is a large social media phenomenon believed to have originated in Russia in 2015. It is supposed to be a "game" in which the "player" receives 50 tasks from an online administrator. Initial tasks are more inclined towards self-harm and antisocial behavior, the final task being suicide. The name is thought to be derived from "failed whales" that suggest suicide. Motivation: Although the target audience of this outrages game is mainly adolescents; it has proven to be eminently more harmful among psychiatric patients, of all ages, especially those with psychotic disorders. When psychosis overlaps with an already dangerous online "game", the risks are heightened. Objectives: Our case study intends to highlight the risks of a 35-year-old patient, a former police officer, diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia about 15 years ago, difficult to control from therapeutic point of view, which is completely immersed in this "game", in which the tasks are on the border between concrete and delirium. Methods: Emergency psychiatric hospitalization, medical supervision, daily psychiatric monitoring, psychological evaluation, psychodynamic interview, case study. Results: The patient deliriously interprets the rules of the game his current task is to go to three different psychiatrists and to prove his health in order to "release" him from his diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. He motivates the objective of the challenge with the Blue Whale the "liberation of the soul", the alternative being suicide. He plays "all or nothing", there are no differences in shades between "Beware of donkeys" (children's game), "Blue whale" and "Russian roulette" (games for real men). The patient himself sees either the garbage man who deserves the lethal injection, or Jesus capable of winning the game. His thinking is dominated by the conflict between the concrete and the abstract; the secret of the paranoid patient being the emphatic ability to transform his powerlessness into "I am invincible!", because for this patient "at first it was the word". When he spoke about his previous tasks, he confessed many acts of violence, pseudo- reminiscence with delirious integration in the form of confabulations. In addition, he believes that everyone receives orders from the Blue Whale, including medical staff, which makes difficult to establish a doctor-patient relationship.

Introduction. The availability of medical care is one of the indicators of the quality of medical care. Every day, during the work of doctors, there is a non-appearance of patients for appointments without canceling the appointment. This plays a significant role in limiting the availability of medical care. Purpose. To analyze the indicators of failed appointments with a pediatric surgeon during 2021 in polyclinics of the North-Eastern Administrative District of Moscow. Methods and materials. The evaluation of records to a pediatric surgeon during 2021 was carried out in four children's polyclinics of the north-eastern district of Moscow. Failed receptions were divided into groups depending on the time of recording, the age of the patient, the sex of the child and the method of recording, a retrospective analysis of these groups was carried out. Results. The total share of failed appointments in the field of “pediatric surgery” in the North-Eastern Administrative District of Moscow was determined. Males were more often registered with the surgeon – out of 84 459 in 48 718 cases (57.4 %), females – in 35 741 cases (42.6 %). The proportion of no-shows was 18 % and 17 %, respectively, but the differences are not significant (p=0.25). When analyzing absenteeism in relation to the age of patients, it was noted that children from 0 to 3 years of age have the minimum part of absenteeism – 13.4 %, and children aged 6–13 years old – in 21 % of cases (significant differences p=0.001). It was also found that the maximum share of non-attendance at appointments relative to the recording time falls on 16–20 hours – 20 %, and the minimum – from 8 to 12 hours, which is 15 % of cases (p=0.001). Conclusion. Informing about the possibility of canceling an appointment with a doctor should be carried out more intensively in a group of parents of schoolchildren. The introduction of a rule to clarify with legal representatives about attendance at an appointment by phone, when making an appointment in the evening, may result in a decrease in the proportion of absences. The important contribution of patients and their legal representatives to the formation of such an important indicator in the work of medical organizations as accessibility was noted.

Durante los últimos años, la creciente tasa de sobrepeso y obesidad infantil ha alertado al mundo. Esta problemática comienza en edades tempranas debido a la baja adquisición de hábitos saludables, donde el núcleo familiar juega un rol fundamental y es el lugar más significativo para la adquisición de conductas. Objetivo: Comparar el nivel de conocimientos, frecuencia y hábitos alimentarios de padres según el índice de masa corporal (IMC) de sus hijos. Métodos: Participaron 235 padres de niños con edades entre los seis y 10 años, clasificados en tres grupos según IMC (bajopeso, normopeso y sobrepeso/obesidad). Se evalúo y clasificó el IMC y se aplicó un cuestionario de conocimientos, hábitos y frecuencia alimentaria a los padres. Resultados: Se evidenció que padres de los niños bajo peso presentan mejor nivel de conocimiento que los de niños normopeso y sobrepeso/obeso (p=.00) y que los padres de los niños normopeso tienen mejor nivel de conocimiento que los de niños sobrepeso/obeso (p=.00), en todos los grupos se informa una baja frecuencia de consumo de agua, quesillo y comidas rápidas y una alta frecuencia de frutas y verduras, carnes blancas y rojas. El grupo sobrepeso/obesidad presentó el mayor porcentaje de niños que ven televisión cuando se alimentan. Conclusión: Existe una disminución en el nivel de conocimiento de los padres a medida que aumenta el IMC de sus hijos, se evidencia un alto consumo de alimentos saludables, lo que no se condice con los altos niveles de sobrepeso/obesidad en los niños y niñas. Abstract. In recent years, the growing rate of childhood overweight and obesity has alerted the world. This problem begins at early ages due to the low acquisition of healthy habits, where the family nucleus plays a fundamental role and is the most significant place for the acquisition of behaviors. Objective: To compare the level of knowledge, frequency and eating habits of parents according to the body mass index (BMI) of their children. Methods: A total of 235 parents of children aged 6 to 10 years, classified into three groups according to BMI (underweight, normal weight and overweight/obese) participated. BMI was evaluated and classified and a questionnaire of knowledge, habits and food frequency was applied to the parents. Results: It was evidenced that parents of underweight children have a better level of knowledge than those of normal weight and overweight/obese children (p=.00) and that parents of normal weight children have a better level of knowledge than those of overweight/obese children (p=.00), in all groups a low frequency of consumption of water, cheese and fast food and a high frequency of fruits and vegetables, white and red meats were reported. The overweight/obese group presented the highest percentage of children who watch television while eating. Conclusion: There is a decrease in the parents' level of knowledge as their children's BMI increases, and a high consumption of healthy foods is evident, which is not consistent with the high levels of overweight/obesity in the children.

Food texture plays an important role in food acceptance by young children, especially during the complementary feeding period. The factors driving infant acceptance of a variety of food textures are not well-known. This study summarizes maternal reports of children's ability to eat foods of different textures (here: acceptance) and associated factors. Mothers of 4- to 36-month-old children (n = 2,999) answered an online survey listing 188 food-texture combinations representing three texture levels: purees (T1), soft small pieces (T2), hard/large pieces, and double textures (T3). For each offered combination, they reported whether it was spat out or eaten with or without difficulty by the child. A global food texture acceptance score (TextAcc) was calculated for each child as an indicator of their ability to eat the offered textured foods. The results were computed by age class from 4–5 to 30–36 months. The ability to eat foods without difficulty increased with age and was ranked as follows: T1&gt; T2 &gt; T3 at all ages. TextAcc was positively associated with exposure to T2 (in the age classes between 6 and 18 months old) and T3 (6–29 months) and negatively associated with exposure to T1 (9–36 months). Children's developmental characteristics, as well as maternal feeding practices and feelings with regard to the introduction of solids, were associated with texture acceptance either directly or indirectly by modulating exposure. Children's ability to eat with their fingers, gagging frequency, and to a lesser extent, dentition as well as maternal feelings with regard to the introduction of solids were the major factors associated with acceptance. This survey provides a detailed description of the development of food texture acceptance over the complementary feeding period, confirms the importance of exposure to a variety of textures and identifies a number of additional person-related associated factors.

Daily monitoring is important, even for healthy children, because sleep plays a critical role in their development and growth. Polysomnography is necessary for sleep monitoring. However, measuring sleep requires specialized equipment and knowledge and is difficult to do at home. In recent years, smartwatches and other devices have been developed to easily measure sleep. However, they cannot measure children's sleep, and contact devices may disturb their sleep.A non-contact method of measuring sleep is the use of video during sleep. This is most suitable for the daily monitoring of children’s sleep, as it is simple and inexpensive. However, the algorithms have been developed only based on adult sleep, whereas children’s sleep is known to differ considerably from that of adults.For this reason, we conducted a non-contact estimation of sleep stages for children using video. The participants were children between the ages of 0–6 years old. We estimated the four stages of sleep using the body movement information calculated from the videos recorded. Six parameters were calculated from body movement information. As children’s sleep is known to change significantly as they grow, estimation was divided into two groups (0–2 and 3–6 years).The results show average estimation accuracies of 46.7 ± 6.6 and 49.0 ± 4.8% and kappa coefficients of 0.24 ± 0.11 and 0.28 ± 0.06 in the age groups of 0–2 and 3–6 years, respectively. This performance is comparable to or better than that reported in previous adult studies.

Objective: This study was conducted for the practical use of biopsy in the diagnosis of chronic lung disease and the guidance of risks and benefits. Design of Study: We studied 64 children with chronic lung disease who underwent open lung biopsy in 5 years at the Children's Medical Center . Results: Biopsy results were diagnostic in 57 cases (89.1%) and non-diagnostic in 7 cases (10.9%). The biopsy determined the type of mass in all cases where a possible diagnosis of lung mass or thoracic wall was made. In 37 cases (57.8%) the diagnosis was changed and the exact diagnosis was determined. The main side effects (including pneumothorax, hemothorax, pyothorax, and pleural effusion) were 50% (32 cases), the most common of which were pneumothorax and pleural effusion, with a total of more than 87% of these major complications. 22 patients (34.4%) required intubation. 24 patients (37.5%) were admitted to the ICU after surgery. The death occurred in only one case, who was a 3-month-old boy with a disorder of INR and suffering from acute respiratory distress syndrome. There was no mortality that could be directly related to surgery. Conclusion: Open lung biopsy is a gold standard for the histological diagnosis of chronic pulmonary disease in children and plays an important role in the treatment of children with chronic pulmonary diseases. However, serious and common side effects of this method should be considered

Background: Toddlers are exposed to a variety of risk factors which includes playing with small material like coins, marbles, rings, unsupervised play and eating, children with decreased consciousness which may leads to choking. Children's respiratory crises and cardiac arrest are frequently brought on by choking or the introduction of an outside object into the airway, especially in children within the 6 months and 3 years of age. Childhood injuries have recently been a public health concern due to the frequency of pulmonary aspiration and choking in children under two years old, as well as mother referrals to medical institutions. According to research conducted in the United States, choking on external items caused 2.9% of children under the age of 4 is prone to die.Aim and Objective: To assess effectiveness of role play regarding prevention of choking and pulmonary aspiration among the mothers of toddler and associate findings with demographic variables.Material and methods: This research were adopted a pre-post experimental research approach among mothers of toddler between the age group of 20-40. 135 mothers of toddler involved in this research. Data were analyzed using the IBM Corp. Released 2016. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp. Qualitative variables were described as numbers and percentages.Results: Before intervention minimum knowledge score was 6.54 and maximum knowledge score percentage was 27.25%. After intervention maximum knowledge score was 70.12%. the average knowledge score has increased by 10.28 and currently represents 42.97% of the total possible points.Conclusion: Choking is a medical condition in which acute blockage of upper respiratory tract occur by a solid particle such as coins, lollypop, hairclips, grapes, marbles, foreign objects accidentally which leads to respiratory crisis like asphyxia as well as cardiac arrest. Toddlers and elderly age group are prone for choking and pulmonary aspiration, and it occur when the unsupervised play and eating, children with decreased consciousness which may leads to choking. It is incorrect to refer to any circumstances in which an obstruction of the airways causes a people to die as a result of choking. The word "choking" excludes deaths caused by diseases other than those caused by strangling, drowning, and gagging, which are all distinct medical conditions. Thus, the prevention of choking and pulmonary aspiration can be done by increasing knowledge and awareness about common sign and symptoms which includes gagging, watery eyes, reddening of face, coughing as well as teaching about preventive measures are choking technique which includes back blow and abdominal thrust and Heimlich maneuver among the mothers of toddler. In this study, the effectiveness of role play regarding prevention of choking and pulmonary aspiration among the mothers of toddler is improved from 26.96% to 70.12%.

We are looking for a tongue that speaks with reverence for life, searching for an ecology of mind. Without it, we have no home, have no place of our own within the creation. It is not only the vocabulary of science that we desire. We also want a language of that different yield. A yield rich as the harvests of the earth, a yield that returns us to our own sacredness, to a self-love and respect that will carry out to others (Hogan 122). Through storytelling the world is created and recreated: in the values and worldviews stories offer, in the patterns of thinking and knowing that listening and reading place in our spirits and minds, in the stories we tell and live. We walk in the ripples our old people left behind and we follow them up, just as our children and the generations after us will walk in shapes and patterns we make with our lives. Our delicate world is poised on a precipice with increasing species extinction and loss of habitat, deforestation, displacement of animal and human communities, changing weather patterns, and polluted waterways. How do we manage the environmental and cultural issues of our complex global world? How do we come together to look after each other and the world around us? Often there is a sense that science will save us, that if we keep “progressing” at a fast enough rate we can escape the consequences of our actions. However, science alone, no matter how sophisticated, cannot alter the fundamental truths of action and reaction in Country: that if you take too much, something, somewhere, will go without. As Guungu Yimithirr man Roy McIvor writes: Dad often spoke about being aware of the consequences of our actions. He used different stories as teaching tools, but the idea was the same. Like a boomerang, your bad actions will come back to hurt you (89). In the end, it will not be technological innovation alone that will alter the course we have set out for ourselves. Rather, it will be human beings embracing a different way of relating to the environment than the current dominant paradigm that sees people take too much, too often. With this is mind, we would like to consider the integral role children’s literature plays in sustaining knowledge patterns of Country and ecology for the future. In the context of children’s literature and ecology the idea of sustaining environmental and cultural awareness is shared via the written word—how it is used, presented, and read, particularly with ideas of the child reader in mind. Our children will be the ones who struggle with the ripples we leave in our wake and they will be the ones who count the cost of our decisions as they in turn make decisions for the generations that will follow them. If we teach the right values then the behaviour of our children will reflect those ideas. In the Aboriginal way it’s about getting the story right, so that they can learn the right ways to be in Country, to be a human being, and to look after the world they inherit. As Deborah Bird Rose states, Country is a “nourishing terrain; a place that gives and receives life” (Rose Country 7). This paper will examine two Aboriginal children’s stories that teach about a living, holistic, interrelated world and the responsibilities of human beings to look after it. Specifically, the authors will examine Joshua and the Two Crabs by Joshua Button and Dingo’s Tree by Gladys and Jill Milroy. Both stories are published by Aboriginal publisher Magabala Books and represent a genre of Aboriginal writing about Country and how to take care of it. They form part of the “language of that different yield” (Hogan 122) that Indigenous writer Linda Hogan advocates, a language that emerges from an ecology of the mind that locates human beings as an interconnected part of the patterns of the earth. The first text discussion focuses on the sharing of implicit meaning via textual form—that is, the lay out of the story, its peritext, and illustrations. The second textual discussion centres explicitly on content and meaning. Both textual analyses aim to open up a dialogue between Aboriginal ecology and children’s literature to provide inter-subjective approaches for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal readers/listeners. Aboriginal Story Ecology In Aboriginal philosophy the universe is the creative expression of Dreaming Ancestors who created the world—the land, plants, animals, stars and elements—and then settled into the creation they had made: …white people also call this the Dreaming. The Tjukurpa tells how the landscape, animals, plants, and people were made and what they mean for one another. The Tjukurpa is in everything. It is in the rocks, in the trees, even in the mice, mingkiri (Baker xii). Through their actions they formed the pattern of reality that finds its expression in human beings and in everything around us—the stars, earth, rivers, trees, rocks, and forms of life that make up the world. Aboriginal knowledge systems understand the patterns of life and our relationships to them through the structure of story. Dreaming stories—stories about the creation of the world and how the fundamental Laws were handed down to the people—have special significance. However, the stories we make with our lives and experiences are also important—stories about funny things that happened and our relationships with our families and loved ones. These stories are also a part of Country because there is nothing that does not emerge and return to the land, nothing that is not part of the pattern that the Dreaming Ancestors made: The Story is the Land, and the Land is the Story. The Story holds the people, and the people live inside the Story. The Story lives inside the people also. It goes all ways to hold the land (Turner 45). The imprint of creation, the structure of the relationships that make up the world, is held in story. Thus, in Aboriginal logic the patterns of nature, the patterns of stories, and the patterns of language, society, and culture are reflections and expressions of the pattern of creation woven by the Dreaming Ancestors. As Yunipingu writes: …For us society and nature are not separate. We have Yirritja and Dhuwa, and these categories contain elements which are both natural and social. Also, of course, they have elements which Europeans call supernatural or metaphysical (9). Through stories we come to know not just the world but who we are and the proper ways of relating to the ecology’s around us. As we learn stories the pattern of learning grows inside of us, in our ways of thinking, doing, and being. They provide the framework for our spirit and mind to develop so we come to know and be in the world in a proper or straight way—to enhance the pattern of life, not to destroy it. This is an Aboriginal “Story Ecology” where stories serve as maps that teach us who we are and our role in the world. Yuin Elder Max Harrison (2009) observes the three truths on passing on traditional knowledge: See the land…the beautyHear the land….the storyFeel the land…the spirit (no pg). To sustain Country is to sustain the self. To tell, share, and know story is to know the environment and to sustain the environment. As Kathy Deveraux writes ‘it’s like the spider: a lot of things tie in together, so when you ask one thing, you get a whole big history’ (qtd in Rose, Country 7). Aboriginal story promotes ecological practice by enlivening the reader’s empathy toward the environment and nurturing a sense of union between what is within us and what is outside of us. The imagery and text of Aboriginal story often achieves this umbilical in two defining ways. The first is through the positioning of the age, setting, or backdrop. The second is born from the relationships animated between these vitally active surrounds and the characters contained therein. Makere Stewart-Harrawira states that: All human experiences and all forms of knowledge contributed to the overall understandings and interpretations. The important task was to find the proper pattern of interpretation. Hence it can be said that indigenous peoples have traditionally regarded knowledge as something that must be stood in its entire context. The traditional principles of traditional knowledge [...] remain fixed and provide the framework within which new experiences and situations are understood and given meaning. As such, these principles are the means by which cultural knowledge becomes remade and given meaning in our time. Another principle is that every individual element of the natural world, each individual rock and stone, each individual animal and plant, every body of land and of water, has its own unique life force (155). Examples of these features of Aboriginal story ecology can be seen in our analysis of the following two stories Joshua and the Two Crabs and Dingo’s Tree. Joshua and the Two Crabs In Joshua and the Two Crabs by Joshua Button, published by Magabala Books in 2008, the narrative, illustrations, and peritext all combine to enable alternative eco-cultural understandings and values. Joshua Button is a young Indigenous author from saltwater country, as is the protagonist in the text. Joshua, the character, observes the movements of country and its inhabitants and Joshua, the author and illustrator, expresses these meanings via words, colours, and illustrations. In particular, the text represents relationships with, and within, Crab Creek. The peritext offers information about Crab Creek—a tidal creek in the mangroves of Roebuck Bay in north-west Western Australia. “The area abounds with wildlife, including migratory birds, fruit bats, crabs and shellfish. It is a place for local people to spend the day fishing off the beach for a ‘pan-sized’ feed of salmon, queenfish, silver bream or trevally. Catching and cooking mud crabs is one of Joshua’s favourite things to do” (no pg). Story, place, and child are now formally positioned as the centre of the narrative and their relationship strengthened by the colours used to represent country and movement. The narrative focuses on Joshua’s family trip to Crab Creek and his interactions with the land, the water, and the animals. His story reveals a meeting of land and sea, a reading of land and sea, and a listening to land and sea. Country and its inhabitants are revealed as having multiple relationships. From the moment his mob arrives, the narrative emphasizes listening to and reading country: Joshua’s Mum moves faster when she reads the movement of the tides and when Joshua ventures into the mangroves he listens to the “Plop! Plop! Plop! Of the air rising up through the mud” (Button, no pg.). With his bucket and spear Joshua’s movements through country are observed and considered by the creatures around him; wader birds carefully watch him and Joshua engages in a dialogue with two big mud crabs that remind the boy that he has also been perceived by Country, which is itself sentient. Animals and country speak and observe—the tide moves, the sand is hot, mudskippers skip, and crabs escape and hide. Joshua’s relationship with the mud crabs is dependent on the boy and the crabs seeing each other and communicating: “‘I can see you two!’ ‘Well, we can see you too,’ said the crabs” (Button, no pg). The narrative provides a beautifully simplistic example of different perspectives and positions for the intended child reader. Both Joshua and the crabs’ perspectives are given space to be acknowledged and understood: one character is searching, another character is escaping. When Joshua finally catches the crabs he carefully brings them back to camp and the entire family have a good feed of them and the golden trevally Joshua’s Mum caught. “Afterwards they sat watching the tide empty out of the bay. Long-legged wader birds picked their way across the silvery mudflats. It had been a good day” (Button, no pg). The story offers a colourful, fun, and cyclical way of seeing country from a perspective that centres the relationship between family, food, and land. It presents this relationship and the implicit meaning of observing and living in country via traditional textual elements such as the written word, colour illustrations, and movement from left to right, but in doing so, the text becomes a form of sustaining relationship with country as well, not just for Joshua but also for the intended child reader. Dingo’s Tree Dingo’s Tree by Jill and Gladys Milroy is a much longer story than Joshua and the Two Crabs and also deals with more serious themes. The story is about Dingo who drew his own rain tree on a rock because the other animals didn’t share their shade with him. The tree then becomes real and grows beyond the limit of the sky and keeps Dingo’s waterhole full through the drought season. The others come to rely on Dingo’s waterhole and feel bad for not sharing with him and teasing him about his tree. As the water dries up, one single special raindrop is found on a little tree and Dingo decides to spare the drop even when all the waterholes become dry. Dingo feels that something is wrong when he sees that the raindrop is slowly growing larger. To survive, Dingo and his friend Wombat teach Little Tree to walk to water. He becomes known as Walking Tree and they are soon joined by all of the others in the land. On their way to the mountain to find water they see the river and half the mountain replaced by mining, and Walking Tree soon becomes overburdened with the weight of the others. The birds decide to carry him—his branches full of friends—and they succeed for a short time only to grow tired. Soon they are all falling toward their impending death until Dingo chooses to use the last raindrop, now much larger, and their fall is broken and a new waterhole is made. However, it is only enough for Walking Tree to live forever and because he is the last tree, the others (but one baby crow) go to the Heavens awaiting their return at the end of humankinds reign on the land. In the story of the Dingo’s Tree the adventure begins in “unspoiled country” with its inventory of cast members who, in real life, naturally inhabit the area. All are shown to be adjusting recurrently within the known cycles of drought and abundance, suggested by the authors in the line “the drought came”, then a subtle reference to patterns of migration as the season is introduced and the cast move to more reliable waterholes. Establishing the story in this space encourages the young reader to identify the natural landscape as “normal”, and part of that normality are the cycles that create and degenerate growth. It is the antagonist that is responsible for the creation of unnatural change. Mining becomes the assassin of country with men as poachers "carting away great loads of rock and earth in huge machines" (Milroy and Milroy 39). This scene is of great importance, although it is only allocated a single page, because it shows where the artery of country has been severed. Its effects have been cleverly woven into the storyline beforehand in several ways. The line “the drought stayed” illustrates a seasonal defiance. In turn, Dingo becomes aware of this imbalance: "for a while Dingo lived happily in his cave but lately he’d begun to worry about the country, something wasn’t right" (Milroy and Milroy 1). Dingo reads the signs of the country. His attention to the life cycles of the land are brought to the attention of the reader teaching children about the important role of observation in caring for country. In addition to this, a warning is given to Crow by the Rain Tree through a vision of a future landscape devastated and dying: "It is what your country will become…The mining is cutting too deep for the scars to heal. Once destroyed the mountains can’t grow again and give birth to the rivers that they send to the sea…"(Milroy and Milroy 20). Contained in this passage is a direct environmental truth, but the beauty of the passage lies in the language chosen by the authors. The phrase “cutting too deep for the scars to heal” links a human experience to an environmental one, as does the phrase “give birth to the rivers”. A child is able to recognise the physical pain of a cut and a child is also able to recognise that birth belongs to the Mother. The use of this language forges a powerful connection in the mind of the reader between the self and the Earth - the child and the Mother. Country feels pain, the mountains and rivers activate their own membership in life’s cycles, and even the far off Moon participates in thought and conversation, all of which awaken a consciousness within the reader toward the animate spirit of the natural world, parenting a considerate relationship to land. It is this animate relationship with the land that it is at the heart of the story. It is the mountain that sends the rivers to the sea, rather than the abstract force of gravity. If the authors were to omit this living relationship between the mountains, the rivers, and the sea, the readers understanding would be contained to simple geophysical processes with their life force reduced to an impersonal science, if thought of at all. Instead, the mountain chooses to send the rivers to the sea because it is the right way, so natural processes become exposed as conscious participants in story rather than being portrayed as passive or inanimate objects and this not only deepens the impact of their destruction later in the plot, it also deepens the connection between the reader and the land. Writing the Future Joshua and the Two Crabs and Dingo’s Tree offer two different Aboriginal stories with underlying commonalities: they both position relationships, Country, and people into an integrated web and provide a moral framework for sustaining the relationships around us. Children’s picture books and narratives are foundational initiations for many Australian child readers in their ecological education—whether overtly or covertly. How a society, a character, a narrative, represents, treats, and perceives the land influences how the reader encounters the landscape. We argue that Indigenous Australian children’s literature, written, illustrated, produced, and disseminated largely by Indigenous knowledges, offers counter-point views and stories about the land and accompanying interrelated relationships that provide the reader with a space to re-consider, re-inhabit, or transform their own ecological positioning. References Baker, Lynn. Mingkirri: A Natural History of Ulu-ru by the Mu-titjulu Community. Canberra: IAD Press, 1996. Button, Joshua. Joshua and the Two Crabs. Broome: Magabala Books, 2008. Harrison, Max. My Peoples Dreaming. Sydney: Finch Publishing, 2009. Hogan, Linda. “A Different Yield.” Reclaiming Indigenous Voice and Vision. Ed. Marie Battise. Toronto: UBC Press, 2000. 115 – 23. McIvor, Roy. Cockatoo: My Life in Cape York. Broome: Magabala Books, 2010. Milroy, Gladys and Jill Milroy. Dingo’s Tree. Broome: Magabala Books, 2012. Rose, Deborah Bird. Country of the Heart: An Indigenous Australian Homeland. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press, 2002. ——-. “Pattern, Connection, Desire: In Honour of Gregory Bateson”. Australian Humanities Review, 35 (2005). 14th June 2012, ‹http://wwwlib.latrobe.cdu.au/A1IR/archive!lssue-June 2005/rose.html›. Stewart-Harawira, Makere. “Cultural Studies, Indigenous Knowledge and Pedagogies of Hope.” Policy Futures in Education 3.2 (2005):153-63. Turner, Margaret. Iwenhe Tyerrtye: What It Means to Be an Aboriginal Person. Alice Springs: IAD Press, 2010. Yunupingu, Mandawuy. Voices from the Land. Canberra: Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 1994.

ResumenEn el presente artículo se muestra una investigación cuyo resultado es un singular instrumento de evaluación educativa, para aplicar a niños que comienzan la Educación Primaria, formado por 40 juegos infantiles tradicionales, tomados como herramienta evaluadora y los 50 ítems del test Boehm de Conceptos Básicos (Boehm, 1983), tomados como contenidos para la evaluación de competencias matemáticas y científicas de niños de 5 a 6 años. El estudio fue realizado en Granada (España) entre los años 2018 y 2020. Se parte de que existen capacidades matemáticas y científicas en los jugadores, que se pueden poner de manifiesto cuando se juegan, con rigor y éxito, juegos con potencialidades matemáticas y científicas. Para determinar éstas, se realizó el análisis de un conjunto de juegos tradicionales pertenecientes a diversas culturas y países del mundo, desde una perspectiva etnomatemática. Se analizaron las potencialidades matemáticas y científicas de los juegos, mediante un análisis de contenido de las reglas de juego y un análisis etnográfico de los materiales y el contexto del juego, estableciendo un catálogo de 40 juegos válidos para aprender y evaluar matemáticas y ciencias al ser jugados. Fue seleccionada una muestra de 4 juegos con potencialidades altas y fue realizado un estudio de casos, cuyos resultados permitieron validar el catálogo. Por otra parte se había analizado el test Boehm, cuando se introdujo en España, encontrando en todos sus ítems contenidos matemáticos, propios del pensamiento infantil preescolar, y obteniendo índices de dificultad para cada concepto del test (Oliveras 1984). Los resultados de ambos estudios junto al análisis de contenido de las relaciones entre los juegos con potencialidad matemática y científica y los ítems del test citado, nos han permitido crear un instrumento de evaluación de las capacidades matemáticas y científicas infantiles, que mostramos aquí.Palabras clave: Aprendizaje a través de juegos, Etnomatemáticas, Evaluación, Educación Primaria, Test Boehm.Instrumento para avaliar as competências matemáticas e científicas dos alunos que iniciam o Ensino Fundamental, por meio de jogosResumoEste artigo mostra uma investigação cujo resultado é um instrumento único de avaliação educacional, a ser aplicado a crianças que iniciam o Ensino Fundamental, composto por 40 jogos tradicionais para crianças, utilizados como ferramenta de avaliação e pelos 50 itens do teste de Conceitos Básicos de Boehm (Boehm, 1983), tomado como conteúdo para a avaliação de habilidades matemáticas e científicas de crianças de 5 a 6 anos. O estudo foi realizado em Granada (Espanha) entre os anos de 2018 e 2020. Supõe-se que haja habilidades matemáticas e científicas nos jogadores, o que pode ser revelado quando jogos com potencial matemático e científico são jogados, com rigor e sucesso. Para determinar isso, foi realizada a análise de um conjunto de jogos tradicionais pertencentes a diferentes culturas e países do mundo, sob uma perspectiva etnomatemática. O potencial matemático e científico dos jogos foi analisado, através de uma análise de conteúdo das regras do jogo e uma análise etnográfica dos materiais e do contexto do jogo, estabelecendo um catálogo de 40 jogos válidos para aprender e avaliar matemática e ciências enquanto são jogadas. Uma amostra de 4 jogos com altas potencialidades foi selecionada e foi realizado um estudo de caso, cujos resultados validaram o catálogo. Por outro lado, o teste de Boehm foi analisado quando foi introduzido na Espanha, encontrando em todos os seus itens conteúdo matemático, típico do pensamento infantil pré-escolar, e obtendo índices de dificuldade para cada conceito do teste (Oliveras, 1984). Os resultados de ambos os estudos, juntamente com a análise de conteúdo das relações entre jogos com potencial matemático e científico e os itens do teste mencionado, permitiram criar um instrumento para avaliar as habilidades matemáticas e científicas das crianças, que mostramos aqui.Palavras chave: Aprendizagem através de jogos, Etnomatemática, Avaliação, Ensino Fundamental, Teste de Boehm.Instrument to evaluate mathematical and scientific competences of the students who start Primary Education, through gamesAbstractThis article shows an investigation whose result is a unique educational evaluation instrument to apply to children starting Primary Education, made up of 40 traditional children's games, taken as an evaluation tool and the 50 items of the Boehm test of Basic Concepts ( Boehm, 1983), taken as content for the evaluation of mathematical and scientific skills of children from 5 to 6 years old. The study was carried out in Granada (Spain) between the years 2018 and 2020. It is assumed that there are mathematical and scientific abilities in the players, which can be demonstrated when games with mathematical and scientific potential are played, with rigor and success. To determine these, the analysis of a set of traditional games belonging to different cultures and countries of the world was carried out, from an ethnomathematical perspective. The mathematical and scientific potential of the games were analyzed, through a content analysis of the game rules and an ethnographic analysis of the materials and the context of the game, establishing a catalog of 40 valid games to learn and evaluate mathematics and science by being played. A sample of 4 games with high potentialities was selected and a case study was carried out, the results of which validated the catalog. On the other hand, the Boehm test had been analyzed when it was introduced in Spain, finding in all its items mathematical content, typical of preschool childhood thinking, and obtaining difficulty indices for each concept of the test (Oliveras 1984). The results of both studies together with the content analysis of the relationships between games with mathematical and scientific potential and the ítems of the aforementioned test, have allowed us to create an instrument for evaluating children's mathematical and scientific abilities, which we show here.Keywords: Learning through games, Ethnomathematics, Evaluation, Primary Education, Boehm test.

ResumenEn el presente artículo se muestra una investigación cuyo resultado es un singular instrumento de evaluación educativa, para aplicar a niños que comienzan la Educación Primaria, formado por 40 juegos infantiles tradicionales, tomados como herramienta evaluadora y los 50 ítems del test Boehm de Conceptos Básicos (Boehm, 1983), tomados como contenidos para la evaluación de competencias matemáticas y científicas de niños de 5 a 6 años. El estudio fue realizado en Granada (España) entre los años 2018 y 2020. Se parte de que existen capacidades matemáticas y científicas en los jugadores, que se pueden poner de manifiesto cuando se juegan, con rigor y éxito, juegos con potencialidades matemáticas y científicas. Para determinar éstas, se realizó el análisis de un conjunto de juegos tradicionales pertenecientes a diversas culturas y países del mundo, desde una perspectiva etnomatemática. Se analizaron las potencialidades matemáticas y científicas de los juegos, mediante un análisis de contenido de las reglas de juego y un análisis etnográfico de los materiales y el contexto del juego, estableciendo un catálogo de 40 juegos válidos para aprender y evaluar matemáticas y ciencias al ser jugados. Fue seleccionada una muestra de 4 juegos con potencialidades altas y fue realizado un estudio de casos, cuyos resultados permitieron validar el catálogo. Por otra parte se había analizado el test Boehm, cuando se introdujo en España, encontrando en todos sus ítems contenidos matemáticos, propios del pensamiento infantil preescolar, y obteniendo índices de dificultad para cada concepto del test (Oliveras 1984). Los resultados de ambos estudios junto al análisis de contenido de las relaciones entre los juegos con potencialidad matemática y científica y los ítems del test citado, nos han permitido crear un instrumento de evaluación de las capacidades matemáticas y científicas infantiles, que mostramos aquí.Palabras clave: Aprendizaje a través de juegos, Etnomatemáticas, Evaluación, Educación Primaria, Test Boehm.Instrumento para avaliar as competências matemáticas e científicas dos alunos que iniciam o Ensino Fundamental, por meio de jogosResumoEste artigo mostra uma investigação cujo resultado é um instrumento único de avaliação educacional, a ser aplicado a crianças que iniciam o Ensino Fundamental, composto por 40 jogos tradicionais para crianças, utilizados como ferramenta de avaliação e pelos 50 itens do teste de Conceitos Básicos de Boehm (Boehm, 1983), tomado como conteúdo para a avaliação de habilidades matemáticas e científicas de crianças de 5 a 6 anos. O estudo foi realizado em Granada (Espanha) entre os anos de 2018 e 2020. Supõe-se que haja habilidades matemáticas e científicas nos jogadores, o que pode ser revelado quando jogos com potencial matemático e científico são jogados, com rigor e sucesso. Para determinar isso, foi realizada a análise de um conjunto de jogos tradicionais pertencentes a diferentes culturas e países do mundo, sob uma perspectiva etnomatemática. O potencial matemático e científico dos jogos foi analisado, através de uma análise de conteúdo das regras do jogo e uma análise etnográfica dos materiais e do contexto do jogo, estabelecendo um catálogo de 40 jogos válidos para aprender e avaliar matemática e ciências enquanto são jogadas. Uma amostra de 4 jogos com altas potencialidades foi selecionada e foi realizado um estudo de caso, cujos resultados validaram o catálogo. Por outro lado, o teste de Boehm foi analisado quando foi introduzido na Espanha, encontrando em todos os seus itens conteúdo matemático, típico do pensamento infantil pré-escolar, e obtendo índices de dificuldade para cada conceito do teste (Oliveras, 1984). Os resultados de ambos os estudos, juntamente com a análise de conteúdo das relações entre jogos com potencial matemático e científico e os itens do teste mencionado, permitiram criar um instrumento para avaliar as habilidades matemáticas e científicas das crianças, que mostramos aqui.Palavras chave: Aprendizagem através de jogos, Etnomatemática, Avaliação, Ensino Fundamental, Teste de Boehm.Instrument to evaluate mathematical and scientific competences of the students who start Primary Education, through gamesAbstractThis article shows an investigation whose result is a unique educational evaluation instrument to apply to children starting Primary Education, made up of 40 traditional children's games, taken as an evaluation tool and the 50 items of the Boehm test of Basic Concepts ( Boehm, 1983), taken as content for the evaluation of mathematical and scientific skills of children from 5 to 6 years old. The study was carried out in Granada (Spain) between the years 2018 and 2020. It is assumed that there are mathematical and scientific abilities in the players, which can be demonstrated when games with mathematical and scientific potential are played, with rigor and success. To determine these, the analysis of a set of traditional games belonging to different cultures and countries of the world was carried out, from an ethnomathematical perspective. The mathematical and scientific potential of the games were analyzed, through a content analysis of the game rules and an ethnographic analysis of the materials and the context of the game, establishing a catalog of 40 valid games to learn and evaluate mathematics and science by being played. A sample of 4 games with high potentialities was selected and a case study was carried out, the results of which validated the catalog. On the other hand, the Boehm test had been analyzed when it was introduced in Spain, finding in all its items mathematical content, typical of preschool childhood thinking, and obtaining difficulty indices for each concept of the test (Oliveras 1984). The results of both studies together with the content analysis of the relationships between games with mathematical and scientific potential and the ítems of the aforementioned test, have allowed us to create an instrument for evaluating children's mathematical and scientific abilities, which we show here.Keywords: Learning through games, Ethnomathematics, Evaluation, Primary Education, Boehm test.

Introduction "Doesn't that wreck your records?" This is one of the first things I generally get asked when someone watches me at work in my home or while spinning at a party. It reminds me of a different but related question I once asked someone who worked at Rotate This!, a particularly popular Toronto DJ refuge, a few days after I had bought my first turntable: DJO: "How do you stop that popping and crackling sound your record gets when you scratch back and forth on the same spot for a while?" CLERK: "You buy two copies of everything, one you keep at home all wrapped-up nice and never use, and the other you mess with." My last $150 had just managed to pay for an old Dual direct drive record player. The precious few recently-released records I had were gifts. I nodded my head and made my way over to the rows of disks which I flipped through to make it look like I was maybe going to buy something. Lp cover after lp cover stared back at me all with names I had absolutely never heard of before, organised according to a hyper- hybridised classification scheme that completely escaped my dictionary-honed alphabetic expectations. Worst of all, there seemed to be only single copies of everything left! A sort of outsider's vertigo washed over me, and 3 minutes after walking into unfamiliar territory, I zipped back out onto the street. Thus was to begin my love/hate relationship with the source of all DJ sounds, surliness and misinformation--the independent record shop. My query had (without my planning) boldly pronounced my neophyte status. The response it solicited challenged my seriousness. How much was I willing to invest in order to ride "the wheels of steel"? Sequence 1 Will Straw describes the meteoric rise to prominence of the CD format, If the compact disk has emerged as one of the most dazzlingly effective of commodity forms, this has little to do with its technical superiority to the vinyl record (which we no longer remember to notice). Rather, the effectiveness has to do with its status as the perfect crossover consumer object. As a cutting-edge audiophile invention, it seduced the technophilic, connoisseurist males who typically buy new sound equipment and quickly build collections of recordings. At the same time, its visual refinement and high price rapidly rendered it legitimate as a gift. In this, the CD has found a wide audience among the population of casual record buyers.(61) Straw's point has to do with the fate of musical recordings within contemporary commodity culture. In the wake of a late 70's record industry slump, music labels turned their attention toward the recapturing of casual record sales (read: aging baby boomers). The general shape of this attempt revolved around a re-configuring of the record- shopping experience dedicated towards reducing "the intimidation seen as endemic to the environment of the record store."(59) The CD format, along with the development of super-sized, general interest (all-genre) record outlets has worked (according to Straw) to streamline record sales towards more-predictable patterns, all the while causing less "selection stress."(59) Re-issues and compilations, special-series trademarks, push-button listening stations, and maze-like display layouts, combined with department store-style service ("Can I help you find anything?") all work towards eliminating the need for familiarity with particular music "scenes" in order to make personally gratifying (and profit engendering) musical choices. Straw's analysis is exemplary in its dissatisfaction with treating the arena of personal musical choice as unaffected by any constraints apart from subjective matters of taste. Straw's evaluation also isolates the vinyl record as an object eminently ready (post-digital revolution) for subcultural appropriation. Its displacement by the CD as the dominant medium for collecting recorded music involved the recasting of the turntable as outdated and inferior, thereby relegating it to the dusty attic, basement or pawn shop (along with crates upon crates upon crates of records). These events set the stage for vinyl's spectacular rise from the ashes. The most prominent feature of this re-emergence has to do not simply with possession of the right kind of stuff (the cachet of having a music collection difficult for others to borrow aside), but with what vinyl and turntable technology can do. Bridge In Subculture: The Meaning of Style, Dick Hebdige claims that subcultures are, cultures of conspicuous consumption...and it is through the distinctive rituals of consumption, through style, that the subculture at once reveals its "secret identity" and communicates its forbidden meanings. It is basically the way in which commodities are used in subculture which mark the subculture off from more orthodox cultural formations.(103 Hebdige borrows the notion of bricolage from Levi Strauss in order to describe the particular kind of use subcultures make of the commodities they appropriate. Relationships of identity, difference and order are developed from out of the minds of those who make use of the objects in question and are not necessarily determined by particular qualities inherent to the objects themselves. Henceforth a safety pin more often used for purposes like replacing missing buttons or temporarily joining pieces of fabric can become a punk fashion statement once placed through the nose, ear or torn Sex Pistols tee-shirt. In the case of DJ culture, it is the practice of mixing which most obviously presents itself as definitive of subcultural participation. The objects of conspicuous consumption in this case--record tracks. If mixing can be understood as bricolage, then attempts "to discern the hidden messages inscribed in code"(18) by such a practice are not in vain. Granting mixing the power of meaning sets a formidable (semiotic) framework in place for investigating the practice's outwardly visible (spectacular) form and structure. Hebdige's description of bricolage as a particularly conspicuous and codified type of using, however, runs the risk of privileging an account of record collecting and mixing which interprets it entirely on the model of subjective expression.(1.) What is necessary is a means of access to the dialogue which takes place between a DJ and her records as such. The contents of a DJ's record bag (like Straw's CD shopping bag) are influenced by more that just her imagination, pocket book and exposure to different kinds of music. They are also determined in an important way by each other. Audio mixing is not one practice, it is many, and the choice to develop or use one sort of skill over another is intimately tied up with the type and nature of track one is working with. Sequence 2 The raw practice of DJing relies heavily on a slider integral to DJ mixers known as the _cross-fader_(ital). With the standard DJ set up, when the cross-fader is all the way to the left, the left turntable track plays through the system; vice versa when the fader is all the way to the right. In between is the "open" position which allows both inputs to be heard simultaneously. The most straightforward mixing technique, "cutting," involves using this toggle to quickly switch from one source to another--resulting in the abrupt end of one sound- flow followed by its instantaneous replacement. This technique can be used to achieve a variety of different effects--from the rather straightforward stringing together of the final beat of a four bar sequence from one track with a strong downbeat from something new in order to provide continuous, but sequential musical output, to the thoroughly difficult practice of "beat juggling," where short excerpts of otherwise self-contained tracks ("breaks") are isolated and then extended indefinitely through the use of two copies of the same record (while one record plays, the DJ spins the other back to the downbeat of the break in question, which is then released in rhythm). In both cases timing and rhythm are key. These features of the practice help to explain DJ predilections for tracks which make heavy, predictable use of their rhythm sections. "Blending" is a second technique which uses the open position on the cross-fader to mix two inputs into a live sonic collage. Tempo, rhythm and "density" of source material have an enormous impact on the end result. While any two tracks can be layered in this way, beats that are not synchronized are quick to create cacophony, and vocals also tend to clash dramatically. Melodic lines in general pose certain challenges here since these are in particular keys and have obvious starts and finishes. This is one reason why tracks produced specifically for DJing often have such long, minimal intros and exits. This makes it much easier to create "natural" sounding blends. Atmospheric sounds, low-frequency hums, speech samples and repetitive loops with indeterminate rhythm structures are often used for these segments in order to allow drawn-out, subtle transitions when moving between tracks. If an intro contains a fixed beat (as is the case often with genres constructed specifically for non-stop dancing like house, techno and to some extent drum and bass), then those who want seamless blends need to "beat match" if they want to maintain a dancer's groove. The roots of this technique go back to disco and demand fairly strict genre loyalty in order to insure that a set's worth of tracks all hover around the same tempo, defined in beats-per- minute, or BPMs. The basic procedure involves finding the downbeat of the track one wishes to mix through a set of headphones, releasing that beat in time with the other record while making fine tempo- adjustments via the turntable's pitch control to the point where the track coming through the earphones and the track being played over the system are in synch. The next step is "back-spinning" or "needle dropping" to the start of the track to be mixed, then releasing it again, this time with the cross-fader open. Volume levels can then be adjusted in order to allow the new track to slowly take prominence (the initial track being close to its end at this point) before the cross-fader is closed into the new position and the entire procedure is repeated. Scratching is perhaps the most notorious mixing technique and involves the most different types of manipulations. The practice is most highly developed in hip hop (and related genres like drum and bass) and is used both as an advanced cutting technique for moving between tracks as well as a sonic end-in-itself. It's genesis is attributed to a South Bronx DJ known as Grand Wizard Theodore who was the first (1977) to try to make creative use of the sound associated with moving a record needle back and forth over the same drumbeat, a phenomena familiar to DJs used to cueing-up downbeats through headphones. This trick is now referred to as the "baby scratch," and it along with an ever-increasing host of mutations and hybrids make- up the skills that pay the bills for hip hop DJs. In the case of many of these techniques, the cross-fader is once again used heavily in order to remove unwanted elements of particular scratches from the mix, as well as adding certain staccato and volume-fading effects. Isolated, "pure" sounds are easiest to scratch with and are therefore highly sought after by this sort of DJ--a pastime affectionately referred to as "digging in the crates." Sources of such sounds are extremely diverse, but inevitably revolve around genre's which use minimal orchestration (like movie-soundtracks), accentuated rhythms with frequent breakdowns (like funk or jazz), or which eschew musical form all together (like sound-effects, comedy and children's records). Exit To answer the question which started this investigation, in the end, how wrecked my records get depends a lot on what I'm using them for. To be sure, super-fast scratching patterns and tricks that use lots of back-spinning like beat-juggling will eventually "burn" static into spots on one's records. But with used records costing as little as $1 for three, and battle records (2.) widely available, the effect of this feature of the technology on the actual pursuit of the practice is negligible. And most techniques don't noticeably burn records at all, especially if a DJ's touch is light enough to allow for minimal tone-arm weight (a parameter which controls a turntable's groove-tracking ability). This is the kind of knowledge which comes from interaction with objects. It is also the source of a great part of the subcultural bricoleur's stylistic savvy. Herein lies the essence of the intimidating power of the indie record shop--its display of intimate, physical familiarity with the hidden particularities of the new vinyl experience. Investigators confronted with such familiarity need to find ways to go beyond analyses which stop at the level of acknowledgment of the visible logic displayed by spectacular subcultural practices if they wish to develop nuanced accounts of subcultural life. Such plumbing of the depths often requires listening in the place of observing--whether to first-hand accounts collected through ethnography or to the subtle voice of the objects themselves. (1.) An example of such an account: "DJ-ing is evangelism; a desire to share songs. A key skill is obviously not just to drop the popular, well-known songs at the right part of the night, but to pick the right new releases, track down the obscurer tunes and newest imports, get hold of next month's big tune this month; you gather this pile, this tinder, together, then you work the records, mix them, drop them, cut them, scratch them, melt them, beat them all together until they unite. Voilà; disco inferno." Dave Haslam, "DJ Culture," p. 169. (2.) Records specifically designed by and for scratch DJs and which consist of long strings of scratchable sounds. References Haslam, David. "DJ Culture." The Clubcultures Reader. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. 1997 Hebdige, Dick. Subculture: The Meaning of Style. London: Melvin and Co. Ltd.. 1979 Straw, Will. "Organized Disorder: The Changing Space of the Record Shop." The Clubcultures Reader. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. 1997

Culture defines itself not only by what is contained within but by what is outside its boundaries as well. Sesame Street's refrain of 'one of these things is not like the other, one of these things does not belong' articulates this creation of boundaries. However, boundaries are not static. Boundaries, and thus cultures, are ever-changing. The decision of 'one of these things does not belong' is always being evaluated and redefined through cultural processes. One of the most obvious processes and signifiers of the visual boundaries of culture is clothing. Clothing maps bodies. Clothing maps culture. Clothing maps boundaries. The visual boundaries of culture have traditionally been placed onto the body with clothing. Fashion and national costume establish both similarities and dissimilarities. While costumes are seemingly frozen in contrast to the supposed vagaries of fashion, both produce bodies of knowledge. However, in Western cultures especially, national costumes project a supposed cultural sameness on the iconographic level that fashion does not. Instead of examining culture per se, this essay will briefly look at ways in which the boundaries of culture are placed and replaced on bodies by costume. Clothing maps bodies. Clothing maps culture. Clothing maps boundaries. The visual boundaries of culture have traditionally been placed onto the body with clothing. Fashion and national costume establish both similarities and dissimilarities. While costumes are seemingly frozen in contrast to the supposed vagaries of fashion, both produce bodies of knowledge. However, in Western cultures especially, national costumes project a supposed cultural sameness on the iconographic level that fashion does not. Instead of examining culture per se, this essay will briefly look at ways in which the boundaries of culture are placed and replaced on bodies by costume. Costumes depend upon certain cultural knowledges and body techniques to be worn properly. Therefore, it is not the clothing itself but how it is worn that makes it cultural. It is for this reason that costume, as symbolic shorthand, often seems exotic or even ridiculous. Wearing a costume depends upon body techniques that change much more quickly than the veneer of cultural iconography that the costumes produce. Thus, 'it's a small world after all' is placed in the 'fantasyland' section of Disneyland; neither in the past, present or future. Not surprisingly, the fantastic and ridiculous are also the exotic 'Other'. While costumes such as kimono, dirndl and military uniforms are understood as national costumes, my definition of costumes in the cultural mapping process is much broader. Costumes serve as iconography on a broad cultural level so that not only do they help define the borders of culture -- either physically or symbolically -- they often seem to stand in for it in its absence as well. The very thing that represents difference -- in this case costume -- is the very thing that is pointed to as the difference. Outside the boundaries of one culture, the 'one of these things does not belong' is reduced to representing all that is different (and so exotic and ridiculous) about the 'Other' culture. Thus, costumes help constitute culture just as they threaten to displace it. However, costume culture is continually suppressed by its own insistent excess that makes it so appealing for cultural iconography in the first place. Few costumes have been exoticised by Western culture as much as Asian clothing. Often one piece of clothing, such as the cheongsam or kimono, supposedly metonymically represents all Asian culture. However, even within Asian culture, these costumes are used to define boundaries. Specifically, kimonos compartmentalise cultural display both within and outside of Japanese culture. Within Japanese culture, a decision to wear kimono is not casual. Kimono-clad women on a Japanese street reflect neither the nonchalance of Hindu housewives in saris nor the set-piece sentimentality of Heidis-in-dirndls. To wear kimono is, inevitably, to make a statement; Kimono equally inescapably mark the boundary of the foreign. Despite the inspiration that the European couturiers periodically rediscover in the kimono tradition, despite the ready-to-wear boutique 'kimona' and low-end lingerie in American import stores, the fact is that no foreigner can wear a kimono without looking silly, at least to the Japanese. (Dalby 112-3) While most Western bodies do not conform to the body techniques of the kimono, neither do many contemporary Japanese bodies. Costumes are often ridiculous or exotic even in their own culture and this serves a specific function. As opposed to fashion, costumes are defined by their static and unchanging exoticism. Indeed, costumes are exotic even within the culture they represent. Costumes are cultural repositories; they are antiquated, outmoded images of a nostalgised past. Costumes communicate victories and triumphs made quaint. Costumes are the G-rated version of cultures past that should have been. When the past seems comfortably ridiculous, as proven in the excessively mannered appearances of national costumes, the boundaries of contemporary body mapping are naturalised. The exoticness of discarded body techniques and modes of display upon which costumes depend, suddenly make the present seem all the more sophisticated and relevant in comparison. Inevitably, this process works to create boundaries between cultures both past and present. While one's own cultural costumes may seem a little silly they also connote a cultural (and costumed) past. Thus, other cultures (vis-à-vis their costumes) are positioned as sillier -- the memory they embody is different -- and so other costumes become caricature not memory because of this difference. This process of caricaturing other cultures can be understood as a transition discourse1. Transition discourses are the processes of temporary cultures that are essential to explain change. Thus, transition discourses are also the temporary mannerisms and body techniques of 'habitus': "'Habitus' refers to specialised techniques and ingrained knowledges which enable people to negotiate the different departments of existence" (Craik 4). Like fashion, costumes can be understood as transition discourses. Fashion, as a transition discourse, is an important temporal indicator of negotiations in popular culture. Fashion, understood as ever-changing, is an obvious example of a transition discourse. However, costume -- despite its seeming inertia -- is also a transition discourse. Clearly, this was and is the case in Hollywood. The costumes used to portray racial and ethnic stereotyping (e.g. the collective condensing of all Asians into one costume or 'yellowface') change regularly to correspond with current cultural prejudices. This continuously creates and re-creates 'Other' bodies and other cultures. In this process of 'Othering', cultures create themselves as well. Thus, the reductive aspects of transition discourses are also productive. Daniel Roche points out in his book, The Culture of Clothing, that national costume -- specifically the military uniform -- is continually placed and replaced onto bodies in productive ways. Uniform, along with the cogneries of military discipline procedures, should not be seen only in terms of docility and repression, or ideological instrumentality. It creates through education, realises a personage and affirms a political project by demonstrating omnipotence. (Roche 229) Costumes do not only discipline and regulate the body, they also produce new bodies as old transition discourses are discarded. The physical costume may remain the same but, like the body, its techniques change. Thus, the cultural past is continuously refigured for the cultural present with transition discourses such as national costume. Costumes define changing borders and boundaries of culture. In particular, costumes often visually signify how the foreign is made familiar and vice versa. Costumes in the early musical Footlight Parade clearly show how costumes act as transition discourses to refigure 'Other' bodies. In the Shanghai Lil' finale of Footlight Parade, James Cagney plays a sailor looking for his Asian whore, Shanghai Lil'. Cagney searches for her throughout Shanghai's port bars and opium dens. Eventually he finds his Shanghai Lil', in racist 'yellowface' make-up: Ruby Keeler. They express their joy together through tap. First, they dance separately, then in sync. Again, like in Disneyland's 'it's a small worldafter all', while their costumes show their differences (he wears a tuxedo and top hat while she wears a satin cheongsam pyjama set and Princess Leia hair), their dancing proves their sameness. The Shanghai Lil' number is a famous Busby Berkeley dance sequence which culminates with Cagney being called back to his ship. Marching soldiers fill the screen as Chinese prostitutes and opium addicts suddenly join ranks and wave American flags as the soldiers march by. Much is made in this sequence of the disciplined male body. The men parade and the women watch. Keeler, however, breaks ranks to try and join Cagney on his ship. At this point, everything about Keeler's character is ridiculous because she is not American. First, her 'yellowface' make-up and broken speech caricature the Chinese culture she represents. Secondly, her assumption that they will live together on his naval vessel is made ridiculous as she pushes herself through the dark navy formations of the sailors in her pastel satin costume. Finally, Keeler's character is made ridiculous by her body techniques. A soldier slams his rifle down on Keeler's foot as she stands in the middle of the military formation. Keeler grabs her foot, winces and makes faces. In fact, it is at this point that Keeler drops the racist Asian persona and responds like an American. Earlier in the sequence, the number foreshadows this possibility with an Asian sailor and some prostitutes speaking in American accents. This productive rather than reductive result is what allows Keeler to be transformed from 'not like the others' to 'one of these things'. Keeler's actions are in contrast to her costume and necessitate a new transition discourse to allow for the romantic conclusion of her relationship with Cagney. It is at this point that a series of marching chorus girls in short, short cheongsams and white, plastic coolie hats overtake Keeler. Costume has transformed the prostitutes and addicts into patriots and thus into the paradoxical sameness evident in 'it's a small world after all'. The 'coolie' chorus joins the sailors in parade. Together the chorus girls and the sailors form an American flag and then a picture of President Roosevelt's face. Finally, they reform to create the triumphant American eagle shooting puffs of smoke and puffs of their symbolic victory. The undesirables have been assimilated, new bodies and new cultures have been produced even though they wear costumes that signify their difference. Clearly, at this point, the Chinese-ness of the prostitutes has been rehabilitated through the ridiculous excess of their new costumes. The 'Chinese girls' (the white female chorus in racial drag) change from a dangerous and uncontrolled foreignness to a more familiar stereotyped and ridiculous 'Other'. At the same time, the 'coolie' costumes rehabilitate the excess of the marching sailors by naturalising the American sailor costumes. While the sailor uniform has disciplined Cagney's previously drunken fop (the previously drunk Cagney is suddenly sober when in uniform), the uniform also produces a new persona for Keeler. In the last few seconds of the number, Cagney marches off with the other sailors to his ship. However, as they reach the ship Cagney and Keeler turn to wink at the camera and reveal that Keeler is masquerading in a sailor costume. Keeler's sameness, previously indicated by her body techniques (her tap dancing), can transcend her difference. However, cross-dressed in a sailor uniform, she is still signified as a transgressor. Cultural boundaries need to be changed before she can be accepted. It is a simple card trick that reveals this change of boundaries. A card trick, a children's amusement, makes this change of boundaries seem simple and inevitable which again naturalises Cagney and Keeler's union. Cagney gestures to Keeler to watch as he flips through a deck of cards. The movement of the cards animates a tiny ship that puffs big billows of smoke and zigzags into an empty white space. It is a place without borders where puffs of smoke again signify victory over difference. Again, costume is used to insist on the paradox of difference and sameness. Again, culture is displaced onto costume and transition discourses. Sadly, it seems that it is a small world after all and the creation of boundaries as a way of defining culture is ever-present. Footnotes Thanks to Jane Roscoe for coining the term 'transition discourse' recently. I hope I have successfully translated its meaning from conversation into theory. References Craik, Jennifer. The Face of Fashion: Cultural Studies in Fashion. London and New York: Routledge, 1994. Dalby, Lisa. Kimono: Fashioning Culture. New Haven & London: Yale UP, 1993. Footlight Parade. Dir. Lloyd Bacon. Warner Brothers, 1933. Roche, Daniel. The Culture of Clothing. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1996. Citation reference for this article MLA style: Nadine Wills. "Clothing Borders: Transition Discourses, National Costumes and the Boundaries of Culture." M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 3.2 (2000). [your date of access] <http://www.api-network.com/mc/0005/clothing.php>. Chicago style: Nadine Wills, "Clothing Borders: Transition Discourses, National Costumes and the Boundaries of Culture," M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 3, no. 2 (2000), <http://www.api-network.com/mc/0005/clothing.php> ([your date of access]). APA style: Nadine Wills. (2000) Clothing borders: transition discourses, national costumes and the boundaries of culture. M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 3(2). <http://www.api-network.com/mc/0005/clothing.php> ([your date of access]).

“...children’s play seems to become more and more a product of the educational and cultural orientation of parents...” — Stephen Kline, The Making of Children’s Culture We live in a world saturated by design and through design artefacts, one can glean unique insights into a culture's values and norms. In fact, some academics, such as British media and film theorist Ben Highmore, see the two areas so inextricably intertwined as to suggest a wholesale “re-branding of the cultural sciences as design studies” (14). Too often, however, everyday objects are marginalised or overlooked as objects of scholarly attention. The field of material culture studies seeks to change that by focussing on the quotidian object and its ability to reveal much about the time, place, and culture in which it was designed and used. This article takes on one such object, a mid-century children's toy tea set, whose humble journey from 1968 Sears catalogue to 2014 thrift shop—and subsequently this author’s basement—reveals complex rhetorical messages communicated both visually and verbally. As material culture studies theorist Jules Prown notes, the field’s foundation is laid upon the understanding “that objects made ... by man reflect, consciously or unconsciously, directly or indirectly, the beliefs of individuals who made, commissioned, purchased or used them, and by extension the beliefs of the larger society to which they belonged” (1-2). In this case, the objects’ material and aesthetic characteristics can be shown to reflect some of the pervasive stereotypes and gender roles of the mid-century and trace some of the prevailing tastes of the American middle class of that era, or perhaps more accurately the type of design that came to represent good taste and a modern aesthetic for that audience. A wealth of research exists on the function of toys and play in learning about the world and even the role of toy selection in early sex-typing, socialisation, and personal identity of children (Teglasi). This particular research area isn’t the focus of this article; however, one aspect that is directly relevant and will be addressed is the notion of adult role-playing among children and the role of toys in communicating certain adult practices or values to the child—what sociologist David Oswell calls “the dedifferentiation of childhood and adulthood” (200). Neither is the focus of this article the practice nor indeed the ethicality of marketing to children. Relevant to this particular example I suggest, is as a product utilising messaging aimed not at children but at adults, appealing to certain parents’ interest in nurturing within their child a perceived era and class-appropriate sense of taste. This was fuelled in large part by the curatorial pursuits of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, coupled with an interest and investment in raising their children in a design-forward household and a desire for toys that reflected that priority; in essence, parents wishing to raise modern children. Following Prown’s model of material culture analysis, the tea set is examined in three stages, through description, deduction and speculation with each stage building on the previous one. Figure 1: Porcelain Toy Tea Set. Description The tea set consists of twenty-six pieces that allows service for six. Six cups, saucers, and plates; a tall carafe with spout, handle and lid; a smaller vessel with a spout and handle; a small round bowl with a lid; a larger oval bowl with a lid, and a coordinated oval platter. The cups are just under two inches tall and two inches in diameter. The largest piece, the platter is roughly six inches by four inches. The pieces are made of a ceramic material white in colour and glossy in texture and are very lightweight. The rim or edge of each piece is decorated with a motif of three straight lines in two different shades of blue and in different thicknesses, interspersed with a set of three black wiggly lines. Figure 2: Porcelain Toy Tea Set Box. The set is packaged for retail purposes and the original box appears to be fully intact. The packaging of an object carries artefactual evidence just as important as what it contains that falls into the category of a “‘para-artefact’ … paraphernalia that accompanies the product (labels, packaging, instructions etc.), all of which contribute to a product’s discourse” (Folkmann and Jensen 83). The graphics on the box are colourful, featuring similar shades of teal blue as found on the objects, with the addition of orange and a silver sticker featuring the logo of the American retailer Sears. The cover features an illustration of the objects on an orange tabletop. The most prominent text that confirms that the toy is a “Porcelain Toy Tea Set” is in an organic, almost psychedelic style that mimics both popular graphics of this era—especially album art and concert posters—as well as the organic curves of steam that emanate from the illustrated teapot’s spout. Additional messages appear on the box, in particular “Contemporary DESIGN” and “handsome, clean-line styling for modern little hostesses”. Along the edges of the box lid, a detail of the decorative motif is reproduced somewhat abstracted from what actually appears on the ceramic objects. Figure 3: Sears’s Christmas Wishbook Catalogue, page 574 (1968). Sears, Roebuck and Co. (Sears) is well-known for its over one-hundred-year history of producing printed merchandise catalogues. The catalogue is another important para-artefact to consider in analysing the objects. The tea set first appeared in the 1968 Sears Christmas Wishbook. There is no date or copyright on the box, so only its inclusion in the catalogue allows the set to be accurately dated. It also allows us to understand how the set was originally marketed. Deduction In the deduction phase, we focus on the sensory aesthetic and functional interactive qualities of the various components of the set. In terms of its function, it is critical that we situate the objects in their original use context, play. The light weight of the objects and thinness of the ceramic material lends the objects a delicate, if not fragile, feeling which indicates that this set is not for rough use. Toy historian Lorraine May Punchard differentiates between toy tea sets “meant to be used by little girls, having parties for their friends and practising the social graces of the times” and smaller sets or doll dishes “made for little girls to have parties with their dolls, or for their dolls to have parties among themselves” (7). Similar sets sold by Sears feature images of girls using the sets with both human playmates and dolls. The quantity allowing service for six invites multiple users to join the party. The packaging makes clear that these toy tea sets were intended for imaginary play only, rendering them non-functional through an all-capitals caution declaiming “IMPORTANT: Do not use near heat”. The walls and handles of the cups are so thin one can imagine that they would quickly become dangerous if filled with a hot liquid. Nevertheless, the lid of the oval bowl has a tan stain or watermark which suggests actual use. The box is broken up by pink cardboard partitions dividing it into segments sized for each item in the set. Interestingly even the small squares of unfinished corrugated cardboard used as cushioning between each stacked plate have survived. The evidence of careful re-packing indicates that great care was taken in keeping the objects safe. It may suggest that even though the set was used, the children or perhaps the parents, considered the set as something to care for and conserve for the future. Flaws in the glaze and applique of the design motif can be found on several pieces in the set and offer some insight as to the technique used in producing these items. Errors such as the design being perfectly evenly spaced but crooked in its alignment to the rim, or pieces of the design becoming detached or accidentally folded over and overlapping itself could only be the result of a print transfer technique popularised with decorative china of the Victorian era, a technique which lends itself to mass production and lower cost when compared to hand decoration. Speculation In the speculation stage, we can consider the external evidence and begin a more rigorous investigation of the messaging, iconography, and possible meanings of the material artefact. Aspects of the set allow a number of useful observations about the role of such an object in its own time and context. Sociologists observe the role of toys as embodiments of particular types of parental messages and values (Cross 292) and note how particularly in the twentieth century “children’s play seems to become more and more a product of the educational and cultural orientation of parents” (Kline 96). Throughout history children’s toys often reflected a miniaturised version of the adult world allowing children to role-play as imagined adult-selves. Kristina Ranalli explored parallels between the practice of drinking tea and the play-acting of the child’s tea party, particularly in the nineteenth century, as a gendered ritual of gentility; a method of socialisation and education, and an opportunity for exploratory and even transgressive play by “spontaneously creating mini-societies with rules of their own” (20). Such toys and objects were available through the Sears mail-order catalogue from the very beginning at the end of the nineteenth century (McGuire). Propelled by the post-war boom of suburban development and homeownership—that generation’s manifestation of the American Dream—concern with home décor and design was elevated among the American mainstream to a degree never before seen. There was a hunger for new, streamlined, efficient, modernist living. In his essay titled “Domesticating Modernity”, historian Jeffrey L. Meikle notes that many early modernist designers found that perhaps the most potent way to “‘domesticate’ modernism and make it more familiar was to miniaturise it; for example, to shrink the skyscraper and put it into the home as furniture or tableware” (143). Dr Timothy Blade, curator of the 1985 exhibition of girls’ toys at the University of Minnesota’s Goldstein Gallery—now the Goldstein Museum of Design—described in his introduction “a miniaturised world with little props which duplicate, however rudely, the larger world of adults” (5). Noting the power of such toys to reflect adult values of their time, Blade continues: “the microcosm of the child’s world, remarkably furnished by the miniaturised props of their parents’ world, holds many direct and implied messages about the society which brought it into being” (9). In large part, the mid-century Sears catalogues capture the spirit of an era when, as collector Thomas Holland observes, “little girls were still primarily being offered only the options of glamour, beauty and parenthood as the stuff of their fantasies” (175). Holland notes that “the Wishbooks of the fifties [and, I would add, the sixties] assumed most girls would follow in their mother’s footsteps to become full-time housewives and mommies” (1). Blade grouped toys into three categories: cooking, cleaning, and sewing. A tea set could arguably be considered part of the cooking category, but closer examination of the language used in marketing this object—“little hostesses”, et cetera—suggests an emphasis not on cooking but on serving or entertaining. This particular category was not prevalent in the era examined by Blade, but the cultural shifts of the mid-twentieth century, particularly the rapid popularisation of a suburban lifestyle, may have led to the use of entertaining as an additional distinct category of role play in the process of learning to become a “proper” homemaker. Sears and other retailers offered a wide variety of styles of toy tea sets during this era. Blade and numerous other sources observe that children’s toy furniture and appliances tended to reflect the style and aesthetic qualities of their contemporary parallels in the adult world, the better to associate the child’s objects to its adult equivalent. The toy tea set’s packaging trumpets messages intended to appeal to modernist values and identity including “Contemporary Design” and “handsome, clean-line styling for modern little hostesses”. The use of this coded marketing language, aimed particularly at parents, can be traced back several decades. In 1928 a group of American industrial and textile designers established the American Designers' Gallery in New York, in part to encourage American designers to innovate and adopt new styles such as those seen in the L’ Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes (1925) in Paris, the exposition that sparked international interest in the Art Deco or Art Moderne aesthetic. One of the gallery founders, Ilonka Karasz, a Hungarian-American industrial and textile designer who had studied in Austria and was influenced by the Wiener Werkstätte in Vienna, publicised her new style of nursery furnishings as “designed for the very modern American child” (Brown 80). Sears itself was no stranger to the appeal of such language. The term “contemporary design” was ubiquitous in catalogue copy of the nineteen-fifties and sixties, used to describe everything from draperies (1959) and bedspreads (1961) to spice racks (1964) and the Lady Kenmore portable dishwasher (1961). An emphasis on the role of design in one’s life and surroundings can be traced back to efforts by MoMA. The museum’s interest in modern design hearkens back almost to the institution’s inception, particularly in relation to industrial design and the aestheticisation of everyday objects (Marshall). Through exhibitions and in partnership with mass-market magazines, department stores and manufacturer showrooms, MoMA curators evangelised the importance of “good design” a term that can be found in use as early as 1942. What Is Good Design? followed the pattern of prior exhibitions such as What Is Modern Painting? and situated modern design at the centre of exhibitions that toured the United States in the first half of the nineteen-fifties. To MoMA and its partners, “good design” signified the narrow identification of proper taste in furniture, home decor and accessories; effectively, the establishment of a design canon. The viewpoints enshrined in these exhibitions and partnerships were highly influential on the nation’s perception of taste for decades to come, as the trickle-down effect reached a much broader segment of consumers than those that directly experienced the museum or its exhibitions (Lawrence.) This was evident not only at high-end shops such as Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s. Even mass-market retailers sought out well-known figures of modernist design to contribute to their offerings. Sears, for example, commissioned noted modernist designer and ceramicist Russel Wright to produce a variety of serving ware and decor items exclusively for the company. Notably for this study, he was also commissioned to create a toy tea set for children. The 1957 Wishbook touts the set as “especially created to delight modern little misses”. Within its Good Design series, MoMA exhibitions celebrated numerous prominent Nordic designers who were exploring simplified forms and new material technologies. In the 1968 Wishbook, the retailer describes the Porcelain Toy Tea Set as “Danish-inspired china for young moderns”. The reference to Danish design is certainly compatible with the modernist appeal; after the explosion in popularity of Danish furniture design, the term “Danish Modern” was commonly used in the nineteen-fifties and sixties as shorthand for pan-Scandinavian or Nordic design, or more broadly for any modern furniture design regardless of origin that exhibited similar characteristics. In subsequent decades the notion of a monolithic Scandinavian-Nordic design aesthetic or movement has been debunked as primarily an economically motivated marketing ploy (Olivarez et al.; Fallan). In the United States, the term “Danish Modern” became so commonly misused that the Danish Society for Arts and Crafts called upon the American Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to legally restrict the use of the labels “Danish” and “Danish Modern” to companies genuinely originating in Denmark. Coincidentally the FTC ruled on this in 1968, noting “that ‘Danish Modern’ carries certain meanings, and... that consumers might prefer goods that are identified with a foreign culture” (Hansen 451). In the case of the Porcelain Toy Tea Set examined here, Sears was not claiming that the design was “Danish” but rather “Danish-inspired”. One must wonder, was this another coded marketing ploy to communicate a sense of “Good Design” to potential customers? An examination of the formal qualities of the set’s components, particularly the simplified geometric forms and the handle style of the cups, confirms that it is unlike a traditional—say, Victorian-style—tea set. Punchard observes that during this era some American tea sets were actually being modelled on coffee services rather than traditional tea services (148). A visual comparison of other sets sold by Sears in the same year reveals a variety of cup and pot shapes—with some similar to the set in question—while others exhibit more traditional teapot and cup shapes. Coffee culture was historically prominent in Nordic cultures so there is at least a passing reference to that aspect of Nordic—if not specifically Danish—influence in the design. But what of the decorative motif? Simple curved lines were certainly prominent in Danish furniture and architecture of this era, and occasionally found in combination with straight lines, but no connection back to any specific Danish motif could be found even after consultation with experts in the field from the Museum of Danish America and the Vesterheim National Norwegian-American Museum (personal correspondence). However, knowing that the average American consumer of this era—even the design-savvy among them—consumed Scandinavian design without distinguishing between the various nations, a possible explanation could be contained in the promotion of Finnish textiles at the time. In the decade prior to the manufacture of the tea set a major design tendency began to emerge in the United States, triggered by the geometric design motifs of the Finnish textile and apparel company Marimekko. Marimekko products were introduced to the American market in 1959 via the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based retailer Design Research (DR) and quickly exploded in popularity particularly after would-be First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy appeared in national media wearing Marimekko dresses during the 1960 presidential campaign and on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine. (Thompson and Lange). The company’s styling soon came to epitomise a new youth aesthetic of the early nineteen sixties in the United States, a softer and more casual predecessor to the London “mod” influence. During this time multiple patterns were released that brought a sense of whimsy and a more human touch to classic mechanical patterns and stripes. The patterns Piccolo (1953), Helmipitsi (1959), and Varvunraita (1959), all designed by Vuokko Eskolin-Nurmesniemi offered varying motifs of parallel straight lines. Maija Isola's Silkkikuikka (1961) pattern—said to be inspired by the plumage of the Great Crested Grebe—combined parallel serpentine lines with straight and angled lines, available in a variety of colours. These and other geometrically inspired patterns quickly inundated apparel and decor markets. DR built a vastly expanded Cambridge flagship store and opened new locations in New York in 1961 and 1964, and in San Francisco in 1965 fuelled in no small part by the fact that they remained the exclusive outlet for Marimekko in the United States. It is clear that Marimekko’s approach to pattern influenced designers and manufacturers across industries. Design historian Lesley Jackson demonstrates that Marimekko designs influenced or were emulated by numerous other companies across Scandinavia and beyond (72-78). The company’s influence grew to such an extent that some described it as a “conquest of the international market” (Hedqvist and Tarschys 150). Subsequent design-forward retailers such as IKEA and Crate and Barrel continue to look to Marimekko even today for modern design inspiration. In 2016 the mass-market retailer Target formed a design partnership with Marimekko to offer an expansive limited-edition line in their stores, numbering over two hundred items. So, despite the “Danish” misnomer, it is quite conceivable that designers working for or commissioned by Sears in 1968 may have taken their aesthetic cues from Marimekko’s booming work, demonstrating a clear understanding of the contemporary high design aesthetic of the time and coding the marketing rhetoric accordingly even if incorrectly. Conclusion The Sears catalogue plays a unique role in capturing cross-sections of American culture not only as a sales tool but also in Holland’s words as “a beautifully illustrated diary of America, it’s [sic] people and the way we thought about things” (1). Applying a rhetorical and material culture analysis to the catalogue and the objects within it provides a unique glimpse into the roles these objects played in mediating relationships, transmitting values and embodying social practices, tastes and beliefs of mid-century American consumers. Adult consumers familiar with the characteristics of the culture of “Good Design” potentially could have made a connection between the simplified geometric forms of the components of the toy tea set and say the work of modernist tableware designers such as Kaj Franck, or between the set’s graphic pattern and the modernist motifs of Marimekko and its imitators. But for a much broader segment of the population with a less direct understanding of modernist aesthetics, those connections may not have been immediately apparent. The rhetorical messaging behind the objects’ packaging and marketing used class and taste signifiers such as modern, contemporary and “Danish” to reinforce this connection to effect an emotional and aspirational appeal. These messages were coded to position the set as an effective transmitter of modernist values and to target parents with the ambition to create “appropriately modern” environments for their children. 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