When children encounter new technology, such as a new robot, it is important that they are given enough time and opportunities to explore how it works. How can we support children in their exploration?
When children are allowed to explore, for example by discovering how the head of the Kubo robot can be taken on and off, it nurtures their curiosity and exploratory skills. In this process, the robot can function as a tool for developing children’s problem-solving skills and collaborative abilities, while also creating a positive and engaging learning experience.
This FILIORUM resource is based on results from the PhD project Higher-order thinking in early childhood education and care: Mediating young children’s higher-order thinking skills. The role of mathematics, coding toys and educators by Enrico Pollarolo (2024).
In the video, two examples of children’s exploratory and collaborative play with robots are presented. In both examples, we clearly see Alan Bishop’s mathematical activity Explaining demonstrated through the children’s play and collaboration with the robots.
This resource is one of several developed in the research project DiCoTe.
Aim: By using this resource, ECEC educators will gain knowledge of how to support children's exploratory play with robots. Useful for: ECEC educators, e.g., at a staff meeting. Recommended time use: 45 minutes, followed by trying the activities with children. Tips for using this resource: 1. Watch the video. 2. Discuss the reflection questions, if possible in groups. 3. Try some of the activities together with the children. 4. Discuss and evaluate the activity with colleagues afterwards, e.g., at a staff meeting.
Video
In the video we meet Mette Enild Løvø, Torill Vaag Solbergløkk and children in Presttrøa and Flå kindergartens exploring and coding the robots Kubo and Rugged Robot.
While watching the video:
- Observe how the children explore the two robots, and how the educators support them in their exploration.
- Observe how the educators mediate the children’s interaction with artefacts/materials – by asking questions, facilitating collaboration, and using subject-specific terminology.
- Focus on situations where the children explain what they are doing or why something happens, and how this connects to Bishop’s (1988) fundamental mathematical activity Explaining.
Questions for reflection
- How were children’s social and mathematical development supported in the examples in the video?
- How would you facilitate children’s exploration with coding toys (e.g., Kubo or Rugged Robot)?
- How can coding toys be used to support children’s explaining in ECEC? What is your role?
- Use a robot together with a group of children, or with your colleagues. - Observe how the children or you explore how the robot works. What is done? What is said?
- Build a pathway challenge, e.g. of wooden blocks, Duplo bricks or other materials. - Can you or the children get the robot to move through the pathway challenge? If not, what must be done differently to succeed?
Questions for reflection and evaluating - after the activity
Individually or in groups
- How did you support the children’s curiosity and exploration?
- What questions did you ask to help the children explore and understand how the robot works?
- What strategies did the children use to collaborate when coding the robot? Which problem-solving methods did they apply? What opportunities or challenges did they meet?
- How was children’s social and mathematical development supported?
- How did you support children’s explaining during the activity?
- What would you do differently next time, and why?
Early childhood research from FILIORUM
This resource from FILIORUM - Centre for Research in Early Education and Care draws on the results from the doctoral project:
Pollarolo, E. (2024). Higher-order thinking in early childhood education and care: Mediating young children's higher-order thinking skills. The role of mathematics, coding toys and educators (Doctoral dissertation), University of Stavanger.
Aim
To investigate higher-order thinking (critical thinking, problem-solving, transfer) in ECEC institutions, and to provide a new theoretical perspective highlighting mathematics, coding toys, and ECEC teachers as key mediators in the development of higher mental functions.
Research question
- How do ECEC teachers in Norway perceive and practice higher-order thinking in ECEC?
- How can mathematics, coding toys, and teacher mediation contribute to promoting these skills?
Method
- Study I and II: Semi-structured interviews.
- Study III: Systematic literature review.
Data material
- Study I and II: Interview data from ten semi-structured interviews with ECEC teachers from three Norwegian ECEC institutions.
- Study III: Systematic review of 22 studies about coding toys, programming, and computational thinking in early childhood contexts, published between 2010 and May 2022.
Key findings
- Study I: ECEC teachers agree on the importance of critical thinking and they see it as closely connected to children’s identity, social development, and ability to listen and respect different perspectives. Asking open-ended questions is central to supporting this.
- Study II: Mathematics is perceived as problem-solving oriented. ECEC teachers view mathematics in ECEC positively and see rich opportunities for problem-solving in everyday life, despite their own negative school experiences with mathematics.
- Study III: The reviewed studies show that ECEC teachers hold positive attitudes towards coding toys. Dialogical scaffolding is the method most often used to support children’s exploration, with teachers acting as facilitators rather than instructors. Coding toys support the development of both cognitive/metacognitive skills (critical thinking, creative thinking, self-regulation) and social/emotional skills (empathy, collaboration, self-efficacy).
- The PhD analysis shows that mathematics, coding toys, and teacher mediation are key resources for fostering higher-order thinking in children.
Corresponding author
Knowledge Centre for Education
