Children’s Explorative Activities in Kindergarten Playgrounds: A Case Study in China and Norway

The study compares outdoor play in Chinese and Norwegian kindergartens. The researchers investigate how different social, institutional and personal aspects of outdoor play in the two countries encourage children’s exploration. The research question is: What characterises the personal, institutional and social aspects of children’s exploration in outdoor play in Chinese and Norwegian kindergartens?

The results show that the interactions between adults and children in kindergartens in both China and Norway were warm and respectful despite differences in kindergarten conditions in the two countries. The children’s ideas and initiatives were met by the kindergarten teachers with dialogical engagement that encouraged curiosity, play and exploration. The researchers believe these results show that there is room for children’s exploration in adult-initiated, curriculum-driven activities. They also found that an activity could easily shift from play to learning and back again to play in both kindergartens.

The data material consists of video observations and photographs from the two kindergartens, as well as framework plans, descriptions of the kindergartens’ outdoor areas and interviews with kindergarten coordinators and teachers. In this study, the researchers have chosen to use two examples from teacher-initiated activities, one from each country, in the further analysis.

Sørensen, H. V. & Birkeland, Å. (2020). “Children’s Explorative Activities in Kindergarten Playgrounds: A Case Study in China and Norway”. I Hedegaard, M. & Ødegaard, E. E. (Red.), Children’s Exploration and Cultural Formation, International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education and Development 29. Springer Open:47-63.