A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Investigating the Role of Materiality in Pre-Primary Children’s Land Art




AuthorsRönkkö Marja-Leena, Aerila Juli-Anna, Sintonen Sara

PublisherNorth American Association for Environmental Education,

Publication year2023

JournalInternational Journal of Early Childhood Environmental Education

Volume11

Issue1

First page 20

Last page33

eISSN2331-0464

Web address https://naturalstart.org/investigating-role-materiality-pre-primary-children%E2%80%99s-land-art


Abstract

Natural materials provide children opportunities for artistic engagement, which encourages a dialogue between children and material and provides a platform for children to discuss their perspectives on significant issues like sustainable futures. This article examines the land art characters created by pre-primary education children in the garden of the University of Turku’s Rauma campus. The study is part of a STEAM-themed learning process that was conducted in a pre-primary group (children aged six to seven years) during the spring of 2022, based on Freinet’s pedagogy. The study uses multimodal content analysis to analyze the children’s land art pieces and their character-based storytelling. The results indicate that the children were able to effectively use natural materials to create unique characters by selecting appropriate materials, colors, and shapes to highlight their features. The shapes of natural materials served either as building blocks for the characters or helped them realize the characters they imagined. Further, the garden was found to be a significant location for outdoor learning, as it provided a space for children to engage in activities such as creating land art and exploring nature.



Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 17:05