How Children Utilize “Maintained” Material Environments?

—A Study on Playing with Tops—

Abstract

This study investigates how children utilize "maintained" material environments in kindergarten classrooms. In this study, "maintained" material environments are spaces with regular exhibitions from teachers or spaces that children can utilize freely. This study explores how children play with tops that teachers introduced into this space. Although initially a new environment, the children soon adapted to playing there. Case study data were obtained by observing and recording the children playing with tops. Episodes were then generated from the data, and analyzed qualitatively. The results display two effects. First, children can utilize "maintained" material environments creatively, since a few of them enjoyed playing with tops outside the boundaries marked on the board. Second, various children moved away from the others to spend their free time playing with tops by themselves. These results suggest that teachers can design environments in the classroom that take into account the perspective of the "maintained" environment.