TY  -  JOUR
TI  -  Supporting young children’s learning from science objects: the importance of play on gallery
  AU -Naomi Haywood
AU -Karen Davies
AU -Lauren Souter
PY  -  2023
VL  - 
IS  - Spring 2023
KW - early years
KW - families
KW - informal learning
KW - museum learning
KW - object-rich gallery
KW - objects
KW - play
KW - Science Museum

AB - Experiences during the early years shape our lives as adults, including our appreciation and understanding of science. Even though early years audiences make up a significant number of visitors in many museums, they are an under-researched age group, particularly in science museums. This paper addresses this gap by considering young children’s learning at the Science Museum in London. Two approaches to support learning from unfamiliar objects were tested with 4–7 year-olds in family groups. The first approach involved families creating a display that featured a small replica of the original object. The second approach involved displaying familiar objects or modern versions with conversation prompts next to the original objects. The testing included observations and semi-structured interviews with a total of 16 family groups. Findings show that families use play to create familiarity and context around objects. Guided play provides opportunities for families to tap into their existing understanding and interests, and in this way allows families to learn from objects. These findings highlight the importance of providing for and encouraging play on gallery to support young children’s learning from objects. Young children can successfully be supported to learn from unfamiliar objects in object-rich galleries in a science museum.

N1 - The Science Museum Group is the world’s leading group of science museums and consists of the Science Museum in London, the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester, the National Railway Museum in York, and Locomotion in Shildon. 
N1 - These figures (2018/19) are the latest figures prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
N1 - https://www.gov.uk/early-years-foundation-stage
N1 - The Move2Learn project international collaboration includes the following members: Frost Science, The University of Edinburgh, Glasgow Science Centre, Illinois University, Children’s Museum Indianapolis, e Centre, Knowledge Lab UCL, Science Museum Group, Learning Through Landscapes, Science Centre (Ithaca, NY) https://www.move2learn.education.ed.ac.uk/
N1 - All names are pseudonyms to ensure the anonymity of research participants.
PB - The Science Museum Group
 
SN -  2054-5770
LA -  eng
DO -  10.15180/231906
UR -  https://journal.sciencemuseum.ac.uk/article/supporting-young-childrens-learning-from-science-objects-the-importance-of-play-on-gallery/
T2 -  Science Museum Group Journal