Barns teknikskapande: en studie av bygg- och konstruktionslek i förskolan

The purpose of the study was to contribute new knowledge in the technological field of research in kindergartens by studying children’s, and to some extent kindergarten teachers’, volition in building and construction play to see how technical skills are exchanged between children.

Three questions have guided the investigation:

1. What characterises children’s volition when building and constructing?
2. How do children explore technology in and through the constructions?
3. How is technical knowledge expressed and shared between children?

One conclusion that can be drawn from the study’s results is that there is a link between technical knowledge and volition. With increasing technical skills, the children’s willingness to participate in the activities and develop the constructions increased. The study’s results show that it is important that children and kindergarten teachers focus their attention on a common learning object in the construction activity in order for technical learning to take place. The kindergarten teacher’s active participation is important for children’s technical learning in order to distinguish new aspects of the learning object. The results show that children can develop more skills through the construction activities. Key technical concepts are processed, and the children gain experience regarding how materials and tools can be used to create different constructions. The activities also create opportunities for collaboration and sharing knowledge.

The study has focused on children’s volition when they identify, build and improve technical constructions and how kindergarten teachers support their technical learning. The data consists of video observations and field notes from four different construction activities.

Thorshag, K. (2019). “Barns teknikskapande: en studie av bygg- och konstruktionslek i förskolan”. Akademisk avhandling. Malmö Universitet.