Last year two researchers at Australia’s University of Newcastle published a paper after consulting a group of pre-school children on the design of a new early childhood setting: ‘Children’s voices: Inclusive early childhood placemaking with children’ by Karen Watson, lecturer in early childhood education, and Linda Newman, honorary associate professor.
What they did: Researchers worked with 26 children aged three to five at an early years setting in a low socio-economic, ethnically diverse Sydney suburb. Over four days they began by asking the children to take photos of places they liked most. They took almost 400 photos, which researchers sorted into nine categories, including ‘nature’ for plants, rocks or gardens, ‘small spaces’ where children could hide, and ‘relationships’, which were pictures of friends or adults.
Researchers used the photos as conversation-starters with pairs of children. They also showed them pictures from the internet of other play places and equipment. Four pairs of children who were most engaged with the conversation drew their ideas.
What they found: The most frequent theme for photos was ‘relationships’, accounting for 42 per cent. ‘Places that allow for the children to be social were highly valued,’ said the report. Most children preferred places outside where they could run around and hide. ‘The children exhibited a wish for doing things, being mobile, being up high and moving around, being free to move… and free from the direct and constant surveillance of adults,’ the report said.
The researchers found children talked prominently about safety and cleanliness. This might have been as a result of Covid-19. Researchers also suggested adults were projecting their own priorities about safety at the expense of ‘children’s desire for risky play’.
The researchers found children preferred to play with ‘real’ objects rather than pretend replicas. The report said, ‘Early childhood environments have traditionally been created as places for children to address what adults perceive as their needs – artificial spaces with child-like representations of what is imagined as the real world. Children recognised this “fakeness” and in this research, there was a request from children for places that are more real.’
What does this mean for me?: You could replicate this consultation process to discover what your children value most in their environment. The findings also suggest practical tips, such as stocking small-word corners with real objects, including hiding places such as tunnels, and making sure children have plenty of opportunities for meaningful interactions with their peers and adults.
