Towards Computational Play: Designing Open-Ended Play-Responsive Environments Supporting Computational Thinking in Early Childhood Education and Care

Computational play is a novel concept and scarcely researched indicating that there is a need for moving beyond deficient models of Computational Thinking (CT) to more robust knowledge by integrating overlooked needs and interests of children and thus engaging them more substantially in computational play on their own premises. However, outcomes from the authors’ previous studies on digital and computational play in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) in a Nordic context demonstrate that digital technology has the potential to reconfigure play activities supporting children’s computational play. Based on a participatory design approach using workshops as a method, the study seeks answers to how play can be used as a pedagogical tool to promote children’s computational explorations, and also the other way around, how computational exploration can inspire and enrich children’s play in ECEC. The aim of the workshop activity is to build a dialogue between researchers, ECEC children and their teachers to integrate computational play into mathematics in ECEC practices. The study will contribute to how an open-ended play-responsive approach to computational play can promote children’s conceptual understanding and how it can be facilitated. The expected outcomes will extend the knowledge of computational play in ECEC practices by incorporating identified good practices and guidelines.