Peer-reviewed article
Play-Activities with Scientific Content in Early Childhood Education
Anna Henriksson, Lotta Leden, Marie Fridberg, Susanne Thulin ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examines how preschool teachers in Sweden integrate science content into play-based activities with young children aged 1-4 years. The research used video observations to analyse how teachers shifted between fantasy play and real-world learning. Teachers used techniques like voice changes and body movements to guide these shifts, aiming to support both scientific understanding and children's social development. The findings show that teachers play an active role in creating learning environments rather than leaving science to emerge naturally from play.
Key points
- Teachers shift between 'as if' (fantasy) and 'as is' (factual knowledge) modes using voice changes and bodily expressions
- These shifts serve dual purposes: supporting science learning and promoting socialisation
- Science content does not arise spontaneously from play but requires intentional teacher introduction
- The Play-Responsive Early Childhood Education and Care (PRECEC) framework treats teaching and play as mutual activities between adults and children
- Teachers as more knowledgeable adults have an important role in creating responsive learning environments
Limitations
The study is based on observations of one preschool teacher, so findings may not generalise across different teachers, settings, or cultural contexts. The document does not report on child learning outcomes or measure whether children actually acquired scientific knowledge.
Abstract
Abstract This article attempts to address the challenge that preschool teachers face, when integrating a specific content area, science, with play. The study builds on the theoretical framework of Play-Responsive Early Childhood Education and Care (PRECEC), in which teaching, and play are understood as a mutual activity. In this mutual activity, teachers and children signal their participation by shifting between as if (fantasy and fictional worlds) and as is (acquiring knowledge of the world as it is) (Pramling et al., 2019). The empirical data consists of video-observations of a preschool teacher and 1-4-year-old children who participate in activities that incorporate play and scientific content. The video-observations were analysed through studying how and why shifts between as is and as if were made by the preschool teacher. The results show that the preschool teacher made the play shift between as if and as is through different types of actions (voice change and bodily expression). Further, shifts seemed to be made with two aims in sight: science learning and socialisation. In conclusion, the preschool teacher (as a more knowledgeable adult) has an important role in creating a responsive environment and in introducing science content, which does not arise by itself. Implications for preschool teachers and preschool practice are discussed.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Teacher-led play-activities incorporating scientific content, using shifts between fantasy and reality modes guided by voice and body expression
- Population
- 1-4-year-old children in Swedish preschool, with one preschool teacher
Key finding
Teachers made play shifts between 'as if' and 'as is' modes through voice changes and bodily expression