ABSTRACT

The provision of environments that support and afford play is fundamental for young children’s experiences, learning and development. Play environments of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) institutions are therefore of great importance for the opportunities provided children to create and engage in a wide range of play. This study examines the association between Norwegian ECEC institutions’ indoor environment (spaces and materials) and children’s engagement in different types of play. Children (3–6 years, N = 86) were observed in two-minute sequences during periods of the day when they were free to choose what to do. The data consists of 943 randomly recorded two-minute videos, which were coded second-by-second to register the type of play occurring, the space in which it occurred and the materials children used. The results show that the indoor environment in the participating ECEC institutions afforded predictable play types in what could be called confined spaces designed and furnished for certain kinds of play activities. The authors discuss how this helps practitioners maintain predictability and control of children’s play, while on the other hand, it restricts children’s play and freedom to bring their own initiatives, ideas and creativity into the play in unpredictable ways.

摘要

提供支持和负担游戏的环境对于幼儿的体验、学习和发展至关重要。因此，幼儿教育和护理 (ECEC) 机构的游戏环境对于为儿童提供创造和参与广泛游戏的机会非常重要。本研究考察了挪威 ECEC 机构的室内环境（空间和材料）与儿童参与不同类型游戏之间的关系。儿童（3-6 岁，N = 86）在他们可以自由选择做什么的一天中以两分钟的顺序被观察到。该数据由 943 个随机录制的两分钟视频组成，这些视频被逐秒编码，以记录发生的游戏类型、发生的空间和儿童使用的材料。结果表明，参与的 ECEC 机构的室内环境提供了可预测的游戏类型，这些游戏类型可以被称为为某些类型的游戏活动设计和布置的密闭空间。作者讨论了这如何帮助从业者保持对儿童游戏的可预测性和控制，而另一方面，它限制了儿童的游戏和以不可预测的方式将自己的主动性、想法和创造力带入游戏的自由。