“Children’s perspectives on their everyday lives in child care in two cultures: Denmark and the United States”. Early Childhood Education Journal, 39, 17-27.

The purpose of this study is to examine children’s perspectives on different aspects at daycare facilities, such as preferred activities, their likes and dislikes and relationships to child carers and contemporaries, in order to achieve a broad understanding of what promotes good learning environments for children in play and in children in learning processes.

The analysis of the drawings shows that the Danish children agree that play is the best thing about attending a daycare facility. Playing with friends and playing outside is very popular. Boys like to climb trees and play with cars, while girls like to play inside. Through their drawings, the children tell that the worst thing about daycare is when they do not have anyone to play with, when they are excluded from the game, and when they are being teased. Acceptance from playmates is extremely important to them. The children also illustrate through their drawings that they find it difficult when they are told off by the adults.
The presentation that playing with friends is the best thing about the daycare facility is supported in the interviews. Swings, slides and football are popular activities in connection with outdoor play. None of the children emphasised organised play or organised activities in positive or negative ways. The children described a good child carer as someone who plays with them, tells them stories and has a good sense of humour. A kind adult is also someone who is flexible with regard to rules, and someone who provides children with choices, for example with regard to playing outside or inside. Observations show that a great deal of the children’s play was free and self-initiated. The children told that they like playing with each other, but that they also want to play with adults and be more active with them.

Data was collected in the US and in Denmark. In Denmark, four children, two girls and two boys, were interviewed individually. Three children were interviewed in a group. In addition, 15 children’s' drawings were analysed, four of which have been presented in this study. The author has observed children at the daycare centre for five full days. The children were three to six years old.

Kragh-Müller, G. & Isbell, R. (2011). “Children’s perspectives on their everyday lives in child care in two cultures: Denmark and the United States”. Early Childhood Education Journal, 39, 17-27.