Children's Free Play Research Articles

A Home-Based Free Play Journey of Parents and Children in Hong Kong: A Narrative Inquiry Approach

This study aimed to explore the process of co-creating free play experiences between parents and children in the context of the "PLAYBAG" project (a home-based free play intervention protocol) in Hong Kong. The study utilized the narrative inquiry approach and collected qualitative data from 24 parents who participated in the focus group interviews. This study has made significant contributions to social work practice in three ways. Firstly, it identified four core elements for parental education in kindergartens: relating rapport, capturing moments, co-creating new experiences, and re-authoring identity. These elements enhance parental education on home-based children's free play. Secondly, promoting free play in community education programs is crucial, emphasizing its benefits for mental health and parent-child relationships. Lastly, social workers can collaborate with designers to create suitable materials for home based free play. Overall, this study provides practical strategies to enhance social work practice and benefit children and families.

School Gardens in Poland – Rediscovered Places

School gardens have been present in the educational space of the Polish school for many years. In recent decades, however, they have ceased to be appreciated. Efforts have been made to modernize laboratories, they have been equipped with measuring instruments, digital devices and multimedia equipment. A natural laboratory, which a garden in fact is, has become a symbol of the past. It remained only in few schools, performing rather an aesthetic function, less often didactic or educational one. The present article depicts a historical outline, shows earlier and currently noticed possibilities of using school gardens in Poland. An analysis of previous studies on gardens is presented as well. A contemporary design of a school garden was proposed to prepare students of pedagogical faculties for activities in the garden with children. School gardens may contribute to the prevention of “nature deficit” (Louv 2014, 54), they may give a sense of closeness to nature also in urban realities[1]. M. Vogt-Kostecka notes that the fear of dirt, wind and ticks limits children's free play in a meadow and in a forest. Limited access to nature is particularly visible among urban children (Vogt-Kostecka 2017, 11). Gradually, the view of school gardens has been changing and their therapeutic potential (hortitherapy) is noticed. [1] According to R. Louv, the nature deficit is manifested in problems with concentration of attention, hyperactivity, and reduced psychophysical fitness.

만 5세 유아의 자유놀이에서 나타난 노래 만들기의 양상

Objectives This study observed the musical expression and musical play of 5-year-old children in free play, and examined the genre of songs and the aspects of song-making in the process.
 Methods The researcher was participatory observation 16 5-year-old children from A daycare center located in D city for about 6 months from March to August 2021. Data were collected through video recording and recording of the process of making songs spontaneously appearing in children's free play, and data such as teacher's observation diary and researcher's diary were additionally collected and analyzed.
 Results First, song-making in the free play of 5-year-olds started with various genres of music, and appeared as trot singing, changing the words of a song while singing a cartoon theme, and making a new song with a nursery rhyme. Second, the aspects of children's voluntary song-making were expressed by expressing rhythm, playing scales with melodic instruments, and changing the words of the song, and they made Bora class battle cry, our class songs, and welcome songs.
 Conclusions This suggests that educational support for the provision and utilization of various music genres is necessary for young children's creative music-making experience, and music utilizing musical elements such as rhythm, melody, tone, and form to develop musical expression and cognitive ability. It suggests that there is a need to actively provide activities. In addition, it suggests that teachers should be sensitive to children's active musical expressions and reactions, focus on children's creativity in musical activities, and pay attention to new music created by children.

Opportunities for free play and young children's autonomic regulation.

Aspects of the social environment have been linked to the physiological mechanisms underlying behavioral self-regulation. Play, a behavior connected to regulatory behaviors such as delay of gratification and regulation of emotions, might be an aspect of social environments that is supportive of healthy physiological adaptation. We examined whether opportunities for social free play with peers, as reported by mothers, would predict children's autonomic regulation (via respiratory sinus arrhythmia; RSA) in a sample of 78 five-year-old children. As a proxy for play experience generally, frequency of social free play in the past week predicted higher levels of RSA functioning across both baseline and stress conditions, but did not account for physiological rate of change between conditions. Thus, frequent social free play opportunities might be a general positive influence on children's autonomic regulation by supporting increased parasympathetic activation but not a significant influence on children's response to stress in the moment. Attention to the role of play in autonomic regulation is critical, as children's free play opportunities might be declining.

Noticing and Naming Computational Thinking During Play

In this research we explore the extent to which computational thinking (CT) is evident in 3–6 year-old children's free play. CT is increasingly viewed as an important aspect of a child’s school learning. Typically, CT is connected to learning with computers. Yet, much of learning in the early years is play-based, spontaneous, often learner-initiated, and without technology. Teacher engagement with young learners is important in supporting learning, understanding what learners know, and also in potentially advancing a learner’s understanding. The relative newness of CT for many teachers suggests that teachers may not recognize CT during play. We used several frameworks to examine CT. Video clips and images of children in the classroom setting were examined by the researchers and teachers to identify instances of CT. Evidence of CT was found in children’s free play. Implications for early years’ teachers are discussed.

Development and Effectiveness of Education Programs using STEAM-based Smart Apps that support Children's Free play

Development and Effectiveness of Education Programs using STEAM-based Smart Apps that support Children's Free play

A review on the free play of children in early childhood education

A review on the free play of children in early childhood education

Parental Resolution of the Child's Disability Diagnosis in the Reaction to Diagnosis Interview (RDI) and Effects on the Play Interaction with the Child

Parental Resolution of the Child's Disability Diagnosis in the Reaction to Diagnosis Interview (RDI) and Effects on the Play Interaction with the Child Examining 37 qualitative interviews with mothers and fathers of a child with intellectual disability it was observed that the emotions and traumatic experiences, associated with the child's diagnosis, still burden the relationship with the child even after several years, so that many affected cannot come to resolution. On the other hand, resolution of the diagnosis was indicated for 65 % of the parents, enabling them to reclaim lost space for building a relationship with their child. While these parents significantly more often report purposeless and responsive play interaction with their children, non-resolved parents still seem to be driven to counteract the disability by playing educational games or playing games, which promote the development. In a parallel music therapeutic study, the effects of parental resolution also are monitored in children's free play interaction: Children of resolved parents interact more often in a dialogic relationship, whereas children of non-resolved parents are less able to balance dyadic turn-taking and interaction control in free music play.

A Systematic Observation of Early Childhood Educators Accompanying Young Children's Free Play at Emmi Pikler Nursery School: Instrumental Behaviors and Their Relational Value.

A significant number of literature documents young children’s innate interest in discovering their surroundings and gradually developing more complex activities and thoughts. It has been demonstrated that when environments support young children’s innate interest and progressive autonomy, they help children acquire a self-determined behavior. However, little is known about the application of this evidence in the daily practice of early childhood educational settings. This study examines Emmi Pikler Nursery School, a center that implements an autonomy-supportive educational approach. We conducted a systematic observation of two experienced Pikler educators while they accompanied young children’s free play. Our objective was to assess: if educators’ instrumental action follows a systematic behavioral sequence, if specific relational behaviors support each instrumental action, and if educators display differentiated intervention levels concerning children’s free play through the adaptation of the relational dimension. We conducted a lag sequential analysis to find behavioral patterns and concurrences between the observed behaviors. Our findings indicate that educators perform systematic action sequences and that each of the instrumental actions of those sequences has a specific relational value. We conclude that educators display three differentiated intervention levels depending on the child and the circumstances of the moment, providing appropriate autonomy support and reinforcing children’s self-determination.

FORMATION OF VALUE ORIENTATIONS OF PRESCHOOL AGE CHILDREN: SINGAPORE - UKRAINE, COMPARATIVE ASPECT

The article is devoted to a comparative analysis of the formation of values of preschool age children in Singapore and Ukraine. The authors note that, in line with social challenges in the world, Singapore has focused on the features of successful reform of the education system in general and the preschool sector in particular. The reasons of expediency of carrying out analytical comparative research in the field of reforming of preschool education of Singapore and Ukraine are covered. An analytical review of the content of reforming Singapore's educational system in the context of studying the issue of value orientations in preschool children of Ukraine and Singapore has been made by foreign and Ukrainian scholars. And also some aspects of educational changes that have taken place in Singapore at all educational levels, and in Ukraine only in secondary education institutions. The qualitative changes necessary for the formation of a holistic value approach to the organization of the educational process in the preschool education institutions of Ukraine are highlighted: the implementation of learning through play aimed at developing not only the intellectual but also the emotional sphere and laying the foundations for the formation of key skills of the 21st century through free play and teachers' democratic approach to personality formation. The problems of reforming Singapore's preschool education and the peculiarities of public policy in addressing them are revealed. The approach of preschool education of both countries to the free play of children with the purpose of forming social competences and values of communication is analyzed. The advantages of Ukrainian preschool education in social education of preschool children are identified and changes that need to be consolidated at the legislative level are necessary for the development of key values of children. The main ones are: the creation and implementation of national programs for preschool institutions and teacher training courses / institutes. The requirements for the formation of motivation of preschool teachers and training of pedagogical workers in Ukraine, capable to provide the process of development of critical and creative thinking of preschool children on the basis of the principle of lifelong learning and upbringing through the play of personality with holistic value orientation, are distinguished.

Multi-Dimension of Openness in the Free Play of Children using Unstructured Materials

Multi-Dimension of Openness in the Free Play of Children using Unstructured Materials

Recriações de papéis sociais sobre família no brincar de crianças pequenas

O presente estudo pretende analisar a rotina de brincadeiras de papéis sociais sobre relações familiares que as crianças empreendem em suas interações com parceiros de idade no contexto da Educação Infantil. Participaram da pesquisa 25 crianças, com trinta e seis meses de idade, integrantes de uma instituição municipal de Educação Infantil. Os dados foram produzidos por meio da perspectiva etnográfica, através de observações, filmagens e registros em notas de campos dos momentos de brincadeiras de livre escolha das crianças no parquinho, na brinquedoteca e durante atividades não direcionadas pelo adulto, dentro da sala de referência do grupo. Do conjunto de 102 cenas interativas analisadas, no intuito de fornecer suportes empíricos à discussão, foi escolhido o episódio “Dois pais” para dar visibilidade aos achados e por apresentar aspectos considerados relevantes para o alcance do objetivo central elencado para o presente trabalho. Os resultados do estudo comprovam que, em situações de brincadeiras com pares de idade, as crianças constroem, negociam e compartilham significados, indicando compreensões de relações e de papéis sociais desempenhados no contexto familiar, sinalizando fragmentos perceptivos/interpretativos a respeito desse contexto social.

A full-body interactive videogame used as a tool to foster social initiation conducts in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

BackgroundGame-based interventions that involve the use of technology have shown to facilitate motivation and learning processes in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The purpose of this observational study project was to conduct a feasibility study to compare the amount of social initiation conducts performed during a full-body interaction videogame versus the amount of social initiation conducts occurred during a free-play activity in children with ASD. We hypothesized that the videogame could elicit a higher number of these conducts and therefore could be proposed as a tool to promote social initiation skills. MethodA total of 15 children (ages 4–6) participated in four sessions with two sections: playing with the videogame Pico’s Adventure and free play time. Social skills conducts were codified according to an observational scale. ResultsResults show that the videogame elicited more social initiation conducts than free play in children with ASD when they were playing alone or playing with a peer. Furthermore, it showed to be as effective as free play in promoting social initiation while playing with parents. The videogame was also effective in reducing repetitive behaviors and increasing gestures. ConclusionsConsidering all these results, the videogame could be considered as an appropriate tool to foster social behaviors but future work is needed in order to obtain further data that supports this hypothesis. Finding new attractive types of treatment would be useful to complement more traditional therapies.

Przywilej czy prawo? O statusie zabawy swobodnej w kontekście współczesnych tendencji rodzicielskich i zjawiska projektowania dzieciństwa

Przedmiotem opracowania jest status zabawy swobodnej we współczesnych tendencjach rodzicielskich i w zjawisku projektowania dzieciństwa. Celem autorki jest omówienie problemu marginalizowania roli zabawy swobodnej w wychowaniu. Klasyczne teorie zabawy definiują ją przez pryzmat swobodnej, spontanicznej aktywności, która stanowi nieodłączny element dzieciństwa. Współcześnie, w wychowaniu instytucjonalnym, zabawa swobodna ustępuje miejsca nauczaniu przez zabawę, o czym świadczą programy edukacji żłobkowej i przedszkolnej oraz bogata oferta zajęć dodatkowych. Autorka przyjmuje zatem, że środowiskiem, w którym należy rozpatrywać kwestię zabawy swobodnej, jest rodzina. W związku z powyższym w artykule podjęto refleksję nad współczesnymi tendencjami rodzicielskimi oraz nad zjawiskiem projektowania dzieciństwa. Z ich teoretycznej analizy wyłania się obraz zabawy swobodnej jako kategorii nieobecnej we współczesnym dzieciństwie. Autorka dostrzega problem zawłaszczania dziecięcej autonomii i stawia pytanie o prawo dziecka do zabawy w XXI wieku.

Collaborative Competence during preschooler's Peer Interactions: Considering Multiple Levels of Context within Classrooms.

The present study introduced an interaction based, contextually contingent method for the study of social competence among preschoolers from low income families of color. Contrary to prevailing methods that assess social competence among individual children, this study used the interacting group as the unit of analysis. The constructs of intersubjectivity and collaborative complexity were adapted for an observational measure of 277 naturally occurring episodes of children's free play. The results of a multi-level analysis demonstrated a significant impact of the flexibility of the play environment and the characteristics of the peer group on the social complexity of children's peer interactions during play. To explain the study's findings a theory of how children's collaborative competence emerges according to the features of the physical and social context is proposed. More specifically, there is a bi-directional relationship between the flexibility of space and materials in the immediate play environment and children's focus on either interpersonal dynamics or collective goals of shared activity during peer play interactions. Implications for both empirical study and theorization of children's collaborative competence is discussed. More specifically, the need for measures that consider the interactive nature of social development, include non-verbal indicators of collaborative competence and consider environmental influences on children's peer interactions is highlighted. Including consideration of collaborative competence as framed by shared activity and collective goals during peer interactions in an understanding of social competence, rather than an exclusive focus on individual development of social skills is proposed.

A Longitudinal Study of the Effect of Organized Physical Activity on Free Active Play.

The relationship between organized sport participation and positive youth development is well established. However, overinvolvement in sport and organized physical activity has been identified as having a potentially negative effect. Overscheduling and its impact on free play is one concern, given the importance of free play to overall health and development. Currently, it is not known if greater participation in organized sport has a positive or negative effect on discretionary free play in children and youth. The Physical Health and Activity Study Team study was a 5-yr, longitudinal cohort study that followed 2278 fourth grade children (ages 9-10 yr). Organized sport and free play was assessed in the fall of each school year from fifth to eighth grades using self-report questionnaires. Using mixed-effects modeling, we found that higher participation in organized sport was associated with increased participation in free play over time (coefficient = 0.20, P < 0.001). Although this effect was independent of age and socioeconomic status, we did find that boys with high levels of organized participation reported the highest levels of free play overall. Possible explanations for this association are related to the role sport might play in supporting physical literacy and the development of fundamental movement skills, allowing children to participate in more active free play pursuits. It might also be the case that active children simply seek out both organized and unorganized physical activity opportunities during this developmental period. Limitations and implications for further research and policy are discussed.

Profiling Movement and Gait Quality Characteristics in Pre-School Children

ABSTRACTThere is a dearth of suitable metrics capable of objectively quantifying motor competence. Further, objective movement quality characteristics during free play have not been investigated in pre-school children. The aims of this study were to characterize children's free play physical activity and investigate how gait quality characteristics cluster with free play in pre-school children (3–5 years old). Sixty-one children (39 boys; 4.3 ± 0.7 years, 1.04 ± 0.05 m, 17.8 ± 3.2 kg) completed the movement assessment battery for children and took part in free play while wearing an ankle- and hip-mounted accelerometer. Characteristics of movement quality were profiled using a clustering algorithm. Spearman's rho and the Mann-Whitney U tests were used to assess relationships between movement quality characteristics and motor competence classification differences in integrated acceleration and spectral purity, respectively. Significant differences were found between motor competency classifications for spectral purity and integrated acceleration (p < .001). Spectral purity was hierarchically clustered with motor competence and integrated acceleration. Significant positive correlations were found between spectral purity, integrated acceleration and motor competence (p < .001). This is the first study to report spectral purity in pre-school children and the results suggest that the underlying frequency component of movement is clustered with motor competence.

Times have changed: Parent perspectives on children's free play and sport

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to examine parents' perspectives of children's free play and sport using a socioecological lens. DesignQualitative, interpretive description. MethodData were collected using semi-structured interviews with 12 parents of children in middle childhood (ages 8–10). Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed inductively according to interpretive description and deductively using a socioecological model. ResultsThe overarching theme, ‘times have changed’, captured the ways in which children's sport and free play have evolved since parents' own childhoods. Within this overarching theme, two primary themes were identified: 1) not so ‘free’ play and 2) the privileging of sport. ConclusionsBoth free play and sport were viewed as important to middle childhood, however, experiences gained in children's sport were seen to be of greater value to the overall development of children, and were therefore prioritized. Ultimately our findings demonstrate the complexity of parenting and the pressures exerted from various levels of influence on the decisions they make with regard to their children's wellbeing in the contexts of free play and sport. How to inform and best support parents in this process remains a significant challenge in moving forward.

Nature by Design: Playscape Affordances Support the Use of Executive Function in Preschoolers

Playscapes are intentionally designed, dynamic, vegetation-rich, play environments that nurture young children's affinity for nature. We investigated how the affordances of a nature playscape provide opportunities to strengthen children's executive function by identifying examples of goal-directed and focused problem-solving within children's free play in this setting. Through video-based fieldwork, drawing on the extant literature, and application of indicators within existing assessments for executive function in nature preschools, we found that playscapes can be executive function-enhancing environments, as children are likely to set their own goals, problem-solve, self-regulate, focus attention, and demonstrate cognitive flexibility while playing in these settings. Future directions call for follow-up evaluation studies to more robustly substantiate initial findings.

Fact or fiction? A longitudinal study of play and the development of reflective functioning.

In Fonagy and Target's (1996, 2000) developmental model of mentalization, play is theorized as a precursor of later mentalization and reflective function (RF); however, the relationship between play and later mentalization and RF has yet to be empirically tested. These processes are particularly important in the context of trauma, but an empirical model of the relationships among mentalization, play, and trauma is currently lacking. The aim of this longitudinal study was to examine whether children's capacity to engage in pretend play, to symbolize, and to make play narratives was associated with later RF in those children. Thirty-nine sexually abused children and 21 nonabused children (aged 3 to 8) participated in the study. The Children's Play Therapy Instrument was used to assess children's free play. Three years after the play assessment, children's RF was assessed using the Child Attachment Interview, coded with the Child and Adolescent Reflective Functioning Scale. Pretend play completion was associated with later other-understanding. Play was also found to mediate the relationship between sexual abuse and children's later mentalization regarding others. These findings are consistent with Fonagy and Target's emphasis on the role of pretend play in the development of a nuanced sense of the qualities of the mind and reality. In sum, the findings lend support to Fonagy and Target's account of playing with reality, and the development of mentalization suggests that it may be more than "fiction." Furthermore, these results suggest that children's ability to create meaningful and coherent play sequences after sexual abuse is associated with the development of a better understanding of their relationships with others. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed.