This Is Play: Environments and Interactions That Engage Infants and Toddlers

Janet Thompson, MA, is director of the Early Childhood Lab (ECL) School at the UC, Davis, CCFS. She has established the school's outdoor spaces as a Certified Nature Explore Classroom and works with families, teachers, and college students on ways to design and use outdoor environments to enhance children's learning and health. She has a particular interest in social and emotional competency and its contributions to early learning and is a strong advocate for active learning approaches that emphasize responsive adult-child interactions.

Janet was a primary author on social-emotional development for the California Department of Education's Preschool Learning Foundations and Preschool Curriculum Frameworks and a contributing author for the California Preschool Program Guidelines.