Play-Activities with Scientific Content in Early Childhood Education

The study investigates how a kindergarten teacher responds to children in play activities that include scientific content. The study is particularly concerned with how the kindergarten teacher navigates between ‘as if’ (fantasy and fiction) and ‘as is’ (real knowledge about the world) in play activities, in order to understand how scientific content can be integrated into teaching without marginalising the role of play. The research question is: What characterises the shifts between ‘as if’ and ‘as is’ in play activities involving scientific content?

The results show that the kindergarten teacher navigated between ‘as if’ and ‘as is’ by changing their voice and using body language. The shifts were made with two main objectives: scientific learning and socialisation. The kindergarten teacher played a crucial role in creating a responsive environment and introducing scientific content in a way that supported children’s play and learning. The study concludes that a conscious and responsive kindergarten teacher can blend science and play, and that this can promote both scientific learning and socialisation.

The data collection was conducted through video observations of a kindergarten teacher and children aged one to four years who participated in activities that integrated play and scientific content. The video recording was analysed to study how and why the kindergarten teacher shifted between ‘as if’ and ‘as is’.

Henriksson, A., Leden, L., Fridberg, M., & Thulin, S. (2023). Play-Activities with Scientific Content in Early Childhood Education. Early Childhood Education Journal, 1–10.