Children’s participation in a school-preparation letter activity

Abstract

School-preparation activities are central for Norwegian children in their final year in pre-schools, but school-preparation activity is an understudied practice. This article gains insight in children’s participation in school-preparation activities using video data collected in a pre-school over a 7-month period. Various forms of preparation activities took place on a weekly basis, such as trips, projects and drawing. Children’s verbal and embodied actions in a letter-based activity was studied over time, and the children oriented to each other as competitors, supported each other and constructed playful action. The pre-school teachers facilitated and allowed for the children to form the activity.