In fantasiespel doen jonge kinderen middels hun verbeeldingskracht de wereld van grote mensen na. Maar hoe komen ze aan hun kennis over die wereld? En hoe kun je als professional de ruimte inrichten om hen via spel te leren hoe de wereld werkt?@en

Objecten trekken de aandacht, roept behoefte tot exploratie op, verkennen van de ruimte zonder ‘boundaries’ (Goldschmeid, 1989; Gascoyne, 2012). Dit kan worden ingebed in een spelverhaal met een handelingschronologie  zo ontwikkelen kinderen zelfsturing (Bodrova & Leong, 2007). De materiaal-gefundeerde acties roepen taal op: Hoe heet het? Hoe gebruik je het? Op welk moment gebruik je het? Wat heb je ervoor nodig? Vraagt om structuur en spelplanning: ‘Wat hebben we nodig om dit spel te spelen?’ (Pellegrini, 2019). Echte voorwerpen leiden tot rijkere ervaringen, preciezer taalgebruik, beter begrip: het boundary object trekt kinderen een nieuwe wereld in waarmee zij zich kunnen identificeren (Van Keulen & Venema, 2021). @en

This study elaborates educational design principles for teaching science and technology in early childhood education. A model of how children learn science and technology in early childhood education is developed from literature. ‘Play’, in the form of role play and simulating job situations in science and engineering, is an important characteristic of the model. At several early childhood education settings pre-school day care, Kindergarten and Grade 1, professional learning communities were formed to develop and implement educational activities and reflect on the outcomes. Seven conjectures are presented that explain problems and suggest strategies for educational design. Replace this text with your abstract. The abstract should be no longer than 300 words. The abstract should provide an overview of the full paper and should highlight the contribution which is made to the relevant body of knowledge. The font type style should be Times New Roman, size 10, with single line spacing. A 0.5in or 1.27cm indentation should be placed on both left and right sides of the text. The abstract which was accepted for the conference can be pasted in to this section and formatted appropriately.@en

PURPOSE OF THE CHAPTER The purpose of this chapter is to illuminate how children come to understand the world they live in through playing with material objects and through linguistic interaction with each other and with more experienced peers and adults. After studying this chapter, you should be able to • describe STEM pedagogies that are applicable in early childhood education • relate children’s cognitive development to playing with authentic materials • differentiate between age-related formats of play: object use, object play, phantasy play, scenario play • appreciate the importance of a child’s interaction with peers and more experienced adults in understanding the material world and developing adequate linguistic skills • derive play-based activities and scenarios from situations and professions in the world of science and engineering.@en