Children's Unexpected Interactions with the Physical Environment and the Expansion of Play in Early Childhood Settings:

A 3-Year Longitudinal Study of 2-4-year-olds

Abstract

The present study investigated children's unexpected interactions with the physical environment in early childhood education (ECE) settings by a 3-year longitudinal observation survey of children from 2 to 4 years of age. Children often showed unexpected interactions with their environment, which were revealed to generate deviations from those originally intended, and to serve as a visual stimulant to highlight play. With the children's imaginative mindset as a basis, those interactions also became the sources of (1) amusement, (2) expansion of play, (3) experience with objects, and (4) initiation of peer interactions. The older children get, the more likely it is that they share unexpected interactions with peers, which then expand play. With the children's safety secured, approving their unexpected interactions was suggested to contribute in nurturing children's play in ECE settings.