The purpose of the present study was to examine Norwegian kindergarten children's knowledge about the origins of commonly consumed food items. Data were collected by conducting semi-structured interviews of 56 children (aged five to six years old) from nine different kindergartens based on open-ended questions and with the use of pictures showing…

This study is a researcher-practitioner action inquiry which was used to explore children's sensory experiences with a focus on the sense of smell (olfaction). We critically considered the early childhood theories that positioned children's sensory learning within equitable, socially just early childhood approaches and connected them to an action…

This article focuses on how children, independent of abilities, create healthy identities and spaces in kindergarten, and is based on a qualitative CGT-study carried out in Norwegian Kindergartens. Data sources include Life-form interviews with 24 children, with and without disabilities. Children placed health in the context of their daily-life…

The authors consider play to be critical and intrinsic to healthy human life and development, and they argue that children's right to play should be supported by the environment in which they live. Their study seeks to understand what children do when they appear not to play during free play periods at early childhood education and care…

The purpose of this article is to qualitatively explore the disparity in the perspectives of female and male staff in promoting physical activity towards 3-5-year-old girls and boys in the outdoor playground of a Norwegian kindergarten. The sample consisted of eight female staff and two male staff members from one kindergarten. Semi-structured…

This paper contributes to the contemporary focus on literacy and digital stories in early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions. When a group of young children create an animated story together, they might collaborate, both with their peers and with their teacher. By drawing on social semiotic multimodal perspectives as the theoretical…

Research demonstrates that physical activity is essential for a child's well-being, learning and motor development. The purpose of this article is to qualitatively explore how female and male kindergarten staff promote physical activity towards boys and girls in the outdoor playground of a Norwegian kindergarten consisting of fifty children…

Children's right to participate has become internationally recognised and the early years are a pivotal phase for realising children's rights. Knowledge of how young children can enact their right to participation in different environmental and educational contexts is important for improving and facilitating pedagogical practices around the world.…

The significance of learning to think critically from a young age is well documented. Early childhood educators play an essential role in children's critical skills development. Therefore, it is crucial to understand their perceptions of this concept. This qualitative study explored Norwegian early childhood educators' perceptions of critical…

Conflict situations occur in daily life in kindergarten. Often children find solutions by negotiations and compromises, but sometimes they also can use physical force against each other. The focus in this article is kindergarten practitioners' interventions in conflict situations when children use physical force and do not stop when they are told.…

This article builds on a qualitative study of interactions and negotiations with respect to existential questions in an ECEC department with children from 3 to 6 years of age, as part of a larger empirical study on the same topic. In the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research's 2017 curriculum for Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC),…

Research on educational activities generally focuses on the importance of positive emotions in the interaction between teachers and children. This article will focus on the challenging emotions that can arise when kindergarten staff interact with the children. The empirical material has been collected from a qualitative study of conflicts between…

This study investigates how children can develop information literacy (IL) skills even before they learn how to read and write. In the project we used a combination of participatory observation and action research-inspired trialling of digital tools. Kindergarteners were given iPads and access to the app Book Creator to create their own digital…

The purpose of this study is to investigate how gender manifests itself in Norwegian kindergarten, as observed by students during three weeks' work experience. The empirical basis was collated from 40 accounts of work experience from 20 kindergartens. Student kindergarten teachers' observations of how gender is expressed in kindergarten forms the…

Research suggests that bullying does occur in kindergarten. The extent of bullying in Norway and other Scandinavian countries is estimated to be about 12%. The purpose of this study is to investigate children's understanding and experiences of bullying. We use a qualitative approach and have conducted individual interviews and focus group…