Engaging Children in Science Learning Through Outdoor Play

Worch, Eric A.; Odell, Michael; Magdich, Mitchell

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-99830-1_5

Cited by 4 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…As informal learning environments have become increasingly aware of the value of play for young children (Luke et al, 2017; Nespeca, 2012; Worch and Haney, 2011), it is vital that public libraries—as a free public learning space for all families—consider how to better incorporate playful learning experiences into their storytime programs for children. Findings from this study point to a potential new storytime model, used in other informal learning environments, that utilizes oral stories to provide longer, educator-led dramatic play experiences for families that support early learning.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Informal learning environments are increasingly prioritizing play as a way to support and encourage important early childhood learning outcomes. Significantly, some informal learning environments, such as libraries, museums, and zoos, have identified play-based learning as one of their goals for how they engage and support the learning process for children and their families (Luke et al, 2017; Nespeca, 2012; Worch and Haney, 2011). Both the Association of Children’s Museums (n.d.) and the Association for Library Services to Children have promoted the value of play for children (Nespeca, 2012) - particularly through ALSC’s Every Child Ready to Read initiative (Celano et al, 2018), and zoo spaces designed on play-based learning principles are becoming more common (Worch and Haney, 2011).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some studies have revealed that informal learning environments are supporting and encouraging play and playful learning through providing play materials, spaces, and structures (Hassinger-Das et al, 2020; Shine and Acosta, 2000; Worch and Haney, 2011), however research on play and its relation to early childhood learning remains limited in some informal learning settings, services, and programs. Play has been of particular prominence in museum research (Henderson and Atencio, 2007; Krakowski, 2012), with past studies primarily centered on child-directed play and parent-child interactions that support play in museum programs and services (Piscitelli and Penfold, 2015; Shine and Acosta, 2000).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There have been limited explorations into the presence of play in zoos. The few studies that have been done have focused on nature-based play (Ernst, 2018) and the occurrence of different types of play in zoo spaces curated to promote unstructured child-led play (Worch and Haney, 2011).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Playful stories: Exploring the use of dramatic play in storytimes

Campana

Kociubuk

Hlad

2022

Journal of Librarianship and Information Science

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Research in early childhood development widely supports play as a vital learning mechanism for young children. Consequently, many libraries are beginning to embrace play as an intentional strategy for meeting targeted early learning outcomes. However, sufficient research on how play can be incorporated into storytimes to support children’s early development has yet to be conducted. This study begins to address this need by exploring how two other informal learning environments—a museum and a zoo—use educator-led dramatic play experiences in storytimes with the goal of understanding how libraries might be able to incorporate dramatic play experiences in their storytimes to create a more in-depth playful learning experience. To elucidate the nature of the museum and zoo’s educator-led dramatic play experiences, this study explored (1) characteristics of their educator-led dramatic play experiences, and (2) the learning behaviors that children were exhibiting while participating in the dramatic play. The results revealed that the educator-led dramatic play episodes in both environments consisted of one long, immersive oral story with other types of play interspersed within the larger story structure. The data also revealed that the children were exhibiting many different types of learning behaviors while participating in the dramatic play experiences. Based on these findings, implications, and recommendations are provided for libraries around designing and using dramatic play in their storytimes to help transform the traditional library storytime structure into a more in-depth playful learning experience.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Playful stories: Exploring the use of dramatic play in storytimes

Campana

Kociubuk

Hlad

2022

Journal of Librarianship and Information Science

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“…Discussion related to the STEAM learning behavior and activities of children in an outdoor learning environment 39% [31,[33][34][35]38,41,42,44,47,49,50,52] Discussion related to the STEAM-activity-supportive settings and STEAM concept development 42% [23,28,30,32,36,37,39,43,45,46,48,51,53] Discussion related to the role of teacher and/or caregiver in nature-based STEAM learning of children 19% [7,19,21,27,29,40]…”

Section: Outcome Major Categories % Of the Overall Sample Paper Idmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Do Nature-Based Outdoor Learning Environments Affect Preschoolers’ STEAM Concept Formation? A Scoping Review

Trina,

Monsur,

Cosco

et al. 2024

Education Sciences

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This scoping review examined the impact of nature-based outdoor learning environments on the formation of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) concepts in preschoolers. Preschool age (3–5 years) is the time when physical interaction with surrounding built environments increases, and spontaneous learning from the environment intensifies—making it an ideal age range to promote nature-based informal learning. An outdoor learning environment can influence STEAM concept formations of preschoolers with an intentional design that offers STEAM learning affordances. Despite the rising interest in early STEAM education, there is still limited literature on how the outdoor environment may influence STEAM learning behaviors of preschoolers (3–5 years old). This scoping review intended to evaluate the existing knowledge regarding the physical factors contributing to STEAM learning affordances in an outdoor environment for children aged three to five. The review included studies from the last twenty years. This scoping review was conducted following the criteria outlined in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). For this scoping review, 843 citations were discovered across four databases (JSTOR, Scopus, EBSCOhost, and Web of Science), ProQuest, and Google Scholar, and 31 articles were considered eligible for inclusion. The paper synthesized those 31 studies to identify the key STEAM learning behaviors of children and STEAM-activity-supportive settings that may positively influence preschoolers’ STEAM concept development.

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Building a Better Wall: Assessing Children’s Design Technology Learning in Nature-Based Early Childhood Education

Speldewinde,

Campbell

2024

Can. J. Sci. Math. Techn. Educ.

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The teaching and learning of design technology that occurs in nature-based early childhood education and care (ECEC) contexts such as nature kindergartens remains under-theorised. There is a growing body of scholarship that describes how teaching and learning occurs in these contexts as well as highlighting the benefits for young children learning in the natural environment. Recently, in the perspective of the Australian ECEC sector, how students experience design technology in nature-based contexts (bush kinders, an adaption of the European forest school approach to ECEC) was reported on. Despite design technology being accounted for in bush kinders as part of play-based learning of STEM, assessment of how this learning is supporting student’s comprehension of design technology remains an area for further attention. Often, educators rely solely on observations and anecdotal note taking for assessment which points to a need to support teachers with more rigorous assessment models. This paper adapts an assessment model for science learning and reconsiders it in terms of design technology teaching and learning. The paper’s aim is to support educators to develop children’s deeper understandings of design technology and make learning meaningful in nature-based education settings. Using vignettes, the children’s learning of design technology available in natural surroundings is analysed. This paper proposes that bush kinders are a valuable context for teaching and learning as they allow educators to develop skills to assess children’s design technology knowledge. The analysis of the data and its consideration against one play-based learning assessment model is also valuable in generating a broader narrative that deepens insights into the teaching and learning experience of design technology education in early childhood nature-based contexts.

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Engaging Children in Science Learning Through Outdoor Play

Cited by 4 publications

References 31 publications

Playful stories: Exploring the use of dramatic play in storytimes

Playful stories: Exploring the use of dramatic play in storytimes

How Do Nature-Based Outdoor Learning Environments Affect Preschoolers’ STEAM Concept Formation? A Scoping Review

Building a Better Wall: Assessing Children’s Design Technology Learning in Nature-Based Early Childhood Education

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