PLAY, EDUCATION, STORYTELLING, OUTDOOR LIFE, CO-CREATION

REGION: South
MUNICIPALITY: Faaborg-Midtfyn
PROCEDURE: 2021
DAILY OFFER: Kindergarten Broholm

Snow story: Kindergarten Broholm (2021)

SNIP AND SNUDE PORTRAIT Dec. 2021

Børnehaven Broholm, Faaborg-Midtfyn Municipality, Region Syd

Artist: Children's Library

Course: September-December 2021

We are still missing one group. Then all children in the institution have been through PlayArt activities for the first time. The group starts in January, with a new librarian on board and the last group of children.

The overarching wonder

In the snip story, we have primarily been centered on - and curious about - how we can develop the kindergarten to promote children's play. We want to position the adults strategically, both inside and outside, to create optimal conditions for children's play and experimentation, as we believe that this will help ensure that children thrive, learn, develop and grow.

What happens to children's learning if we can let go and be in the open with them? How can we create something that continues to inspire children to express and develop through play in a variety of ways?

Promoting play and education

In particular, joint reflections on what play is have been a key part of the dialogues. How to follow the development of play, reflections on peripheral participation - i.e. what does it mean to be involved in a game. And then the whole question of what a guided pedagogical activity is - seen in relation to PlayArt, where the focus is on the child/children's initiatives, creative urge and 'translation' of the presentation that has come from the library.

Between play and chaos, we now look for signs

Who decides what is chaos and what is play? Especially the first sessions of the LegeKunst days were characterized by either recognizable planned pedagogical activities based on a book, artifacts such as taste experiences or, for example, images in print. In other words: We do what we normally do at gatherings - gather the children and manage the activity based on the norms we (as adults) have imagined. This is also the children's expectation, as the framework for guided educational activities is familiar.

After a couple of sessions of this type, the post-reflections focused on whether we are adequately following the child's lead in this type of activity. Unlearning a norm that we work with on a daily basis is not the easiest thing to do. But between the library and the pedagogical staff, there was a common focus on trying to break the norm.

Practice makes perfect and throughout the fall, the adults have been practicing just that. Instead of trying to manage chaos or control play, they encourage children to explore play based on the book they have read. Another remarkable thing that has happened is that the adults now jointly collect "signs" from the story in the children's play and motivate the children when they experience signs from PlayArt in their daily lives.

Outdoors and Indoors

In this PlayArt program, there is a conscious effort to test different play environments. What does it do to the story if it takes place outside or in the hall? The setting is of great importance for the children's active participation and how the play unfolds. At the same time, we can see that children's play sometimes takes new directions than expected - when we give them the time and opportunity to do so.

Changes and reflections

In particular, the understanding of the professionals' special knowledge has provided a starting point for reflection. Including what the two professional groups - educators and librarians - can jointly create play experiences for the children's groups. This mutual understanding and knowledge of each other has both challenged and strengthened the process. Preconceptions have shifted and a professional community has developed around the children's understanding of - and translation of - stories into play. Agreements on collaboration, children's libraries and increased collaboration have been on the agenda. As a derivative effect of the collaboration through LegeKunst, the establishment of a children's library is now underway in the institution, supported by government funding.

The power of storytelling

Another aspect of the collaboration between the library and the daycare center is the revisiting of classics. In the final reflection, there was an exciting debate about how the classic fairy tales have been brought back to life and are seen from both sides as a powerful tool for play and education.

What do we take away?

There is a strong focus on continuing a close collaboration between the library and daycare. There is still one group missing who, in collaboration with a new librarian, will go through a round of PlayArt in the spring. The focus on the snip story is unchanged. Work continues to focus on the diversity of children's play. In the coming period, even more focus will be placed on a more narrative approach in the presentation from the library, and everyone is looking forward to experiencing/experiencing whether this shift will create new/different play tracks in the children's daily lives.

Summarized by the PlayArt supervisors in the house, based on snip narrative, ongoing snaps and midway reflections + final reflection.