Science in action in spontaneous preschool play – an essential foundation for future understanding

ABSTRACT

Children are born to play and are born as intuitive scientists and use numeracy and literacy in their play. Playing is an essential apprenticeship for developing scientific (STEM) literacy. Observing children spontaneously playing reveals that they are experiencing STEM in action. They are observing phenomena, asking questions, solving problems, design investigations and adapting what is available to use in their active investigations Nonspeaking children, until they acquire verbal language for themselves and communicating by gestures and actions about findings. Children have various modes of play, free choice, structured and structured. In imaginative play they replicate activities of adults, dressing up as an adult, cooking in a make-believe kitchen, composing and acting out a narrative. In all these activities children do compose their own narrative but listen to narratives particularly in Pictorial fiction books gradually being able to sort myth from reality as well as predicting outcomes and problem solving.

KEYWORDS:

• Early years science
• play
• emergent science

Notes on contributors

Dr Sue Dale Tunnicliffe is a zoologist, Reader in Science Education, UCL IOE. She has taught in schools to all ages and at Universities, has published widely in science education. She is co-founder and first editor of the Journal of Emergent Science and is presently working on STEM in play.

Dr Eirini Gkouskou is a Senior Lecturer of Early Childhood & Education Department of UEL. Eirini previously worked as an Academic and Manager in formal and non-formal organizations. She is the Deputy Editor of the Journal of Education in Museums (GEM). Eirini’s research interests broadly focus on STEM, inquiry-based learning and play.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Sue Dale Tunnicliffe http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2740-6866

Eirini Gkouskou http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4567-3036