Relationality of play and playfulness in early childhood sustainability education

Early childhood education emphasizes learning by playing. Play is self-chosen and devoid of external motivation. However, the definition of play presents a paradox in play-based learning, because the institutional framework imposes external objectives onto play. From a cultural-historical perspective, the study examines the relationality of play and playfulness in early childhood sustainability education. By employing sphere theory and the attributes of playfulness, the study addresses the question: How can playful aspects in sustainability education permeate into children's play? Two teachers and 39 children. The study employed the methodologies of ethnographic research. The data consisted of video recordings (6h 37min), observational notes, and children's artifacts. The study revealed two aspects that unfold the relationality of playfulness and play in educational settings. First, the elements of playful learning activity permeate the children's sphere of staging, and second, the elements of playful learning activity permeate into the children's sphere of imagination. Both aspects show that the playful learning activity serves as the sphere of reality, bringing new concepts and ideas to children's play. The knowledge children acquire in the playful sustainability education activity served as a sphere of reality that fed the sphere of imagination. Playful learning can include parts of mature play, and thus, play is not operationalized to serve learning, but in play, children reproduce and transform new knowledge blending it with their culture. Therefore, play can exist and evolve in an educational setting while respecting the freedom and intrinsic motivation of play.