This qualitative study investigated teachers' beliefs about the availability of play materials in the physical indoor environment of early childhood education and care (ECEC). The empirical data were gathered from fieldwork in eight child groups in ECEC institutions across Norway and comprised 13 semistructured interviews with teachers. The findings indicate a common ideological understanding among teachers that play materials should be available in children's play, enhancing play, learning, and development possibilities. However, many teachers described putting play materials out of children's reach during times of play. There are variations, but practical considerations often override pedagogical intentions when teachers plan and facilitate children's play. This study aims to enhance the indoor ECEC environment's quality by stimulating teachers' consciousness about play materials' availability, ensuring equal possibilities for children's play in ECEC. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

This review concerns how quality in ECEC is thematized and examined in Norwegian research published in 2010–2021. The review contributes to developing relevant professional knowledge and insight into what quality in ECEC is, should be or can be. A systematic scoping review includes 97 empirical studies of quality in the Norwegian ECEC context. The results show an increase in studies addressing quality after the year 2017. Most studies use interviews and observations, i.e., qualitative data. Research based on quantitative studies mainly applies to questionnaires, whereas multi-method designs occur with the third greatest frequency. The majority of the studies are descriptive or explore relationships. A few studies concern method development, interventions or reviews of the literature. ECEC staff and ECEC teachers are the most common informants. Two-thirds of the studies included were published in English, and only one-third were published in Norwegian. Thematically, process quality emerges as the most studied dimension of quality, dominated by investigating the aspect of staff–child interactions. About one-third of the studies investigate structural quality, with most attention paid to the physical environment and the organization of the ECEC provisions. Less research is directed at result (outcome) quality and curriculum quality. This overview contributes to increased knowledge about how quality is understood and used in research, as an essential prerequisite for creating a safe and sound everyday life for children in ECEC.

Denne studien undersøker utvalg og tilgjengelighet av lekemateriell og barns lekemuligheter i det fysiske innemiljøet i barnehagen. Det empiriske materialet består av kvalitative observasjonsdata fra åtte norske barnehager med fokus på én barnegruppe i hver barnehage. Resultatene viser at det er store forskjeller i barnegruppenes praksis når det gjelder utvalg og tilgjengelighet av lekemateriell. Mens enkelte barnegrupper tilbyr et variert utvalg av lekemateriell og innredede lekesoner, har andre barnegrupper tomme hyller eller restriktive rutiner som kan bidra til å begrense barnas egne valg og lekemuligheter. Artikkelen diskuterer, blant annet i lys av teorien om affordances, hvordan det fysiske miljøet med et tilgjengelig og variert utvalg av lekemateriell, sammen med en pedagogisk praksis som fremmer lek, kan bidra til å stimulere barns lekemuligheter. Tilgjengelig og fleksibelt løsmateriell, som barna kan flytte rundt og kombinere på ulike måter, ser ut til å gi barna flere muligheter i rollelek, samt at det bidrar til barns medvirkning og inkludering i lek. Resultatene fra undersøkelsen gir kunnskap om hvordan barnehager kan tilrettelegge det fysiske innemiljøet for barns lek, og søker å bidra til kvalitetsutvikling i barnehagen. Implikasjoner for videre forskning presenteres.