The study seeks an in-depth understanding of how gender is being constructed in elementary school. More specifically, the essay aims at investigating the creation of gender during free play at the breaks in primary school. On the basis of this purpose, the essay sets the following questions: How is gender created during free play? How are boundaries between male and female / boy and girl established? What scopes are there for violations and breach of the gender contract? The questions are answered based on socio-cultural perspectives and gender theory. A central aspect emphasized by Hirdman is the gender contract. This theory assumes that social contexts are gender coded and governed by invisible “gender contracts” that govern how men and women should think and behave. The study is based on observations throughout the schoolyard made for a total of five days. The focus is on children in one class, from grade 1 to 3. The results confirm that children's play is gender coded and governed by norms for how men and women should behave. Boundaries between male and female / boy and girl are established both through the choice of games, and through how the children act in the different games. An interesting detail here is the way in which teachers at school changed the conditions for children's play by scheduling football games so girls and boys can play separately on certain days of the week. As regards the issue of infringements, the survey has shown that there is both an overrun of the gender contract through "interspersed gender interactions" and an enhancement of the gender contract by children themselves marking when others exceed limits and norms.

The following is a study into the importance of "free play". Through interviews- and study into research in child psychology and different theories of interaction I aim to reach a conclusion as to whether the occurrence of "free play" has a fundamental importance in the development of the preschool child. Interviews have been formed to address the adult reflections in relation to play, and addresses the views and opinions as to what extent the adult should merely supervise or partake and thus steer the outcome of play. A question is also formed to determine the omni-importance of play. The interviews have been conducted with 6 adults responsible for children in pre-school institutions. The interviewees are employed at three separate locations. The study looks into several theoretical perspectives and thus also draws its conclusions from these. The perspectives and research are studied under method, and comparison of answers are noted in results and analysis. The most important outcome of the study is that all are in agreeance that play has a huge importance to the children's both physical and social development, thus enabling the child for future engagements in adulthood.

The purpose of this study is to see the difference between the genders when it comes to freeplaying but also to see the differences in the predestined games in a multicultural school. Myresearch question has been answered through observation of the students from a genderperspective to see both the differences but also the similarities. I have observed the students inboth outside and inside environments to see the differences. I have also read literature aboutgender and used those when working through the material from the observations.The result I got was consistent with the literature I read that boys and girls choose activitiesbased on stereotypical activities for each gender. The result also showed that sometimes theboys and girls chose an activity that is outside of their stereotypical activity. Furthermore,when boys and girls are playing the same game separately the rules tend to change.To conclude we could see that the predetermined activities were good for the most part butsometimes there were children who did not want to try an activity that is associated with theother gender.

Denna studie undersöker om, och i sådana fall på vilket sätt, traditionella könsroller kommer till uttryck i den fria leken i förskolan.  Detta syfte analyseras utifrån två frågeställningar vilka är:  * Vilka skillnader i val av aktiviteter finns mellan pojkar och flickor? * På vilket sätt ger barnen uttryck för de traditionella könsrollerna i leken?   Studien genomfördes i förskolans fria lek. Barnens val av rum skedde genom turordning och det barn som fick välja rum först hade fler valmöjligheter jämfört med det barn som fick välja sist. Som metod för datainsamling användes videoobservationer vid en förskola där etablerad kontakt mellan barn och observatör redan fanns. Totalt deltog 11 barn i åldrarna fyra till fem i studien. Resultatet av studien visar på att barnen agerade ungefär lika ofta enligt normer för traditionella könsroller, som de agerade könsöverskridande. Detta genom både val av lek och hur de agerade i leken.  Uppsatsen skrevs som en del under lärarutbildningen och kan bistå med att väcka lärares funderingar kring barns olika könsroller. Detta genom att diskutera könsroller och hur dessa skildras i barnens fria lek. / This study is based on social learning theory and intends to examine whether, and if so how, the traditional gender roles are expressed in the free play in preschool. This purpose is analyzed based on two issues which are: * How does boys and girls play during the free play in preschool? Are there any differences between the type of games they have chosen? * Will the traditional gender roles be expressed in boys’ and girls’ free play? How? The study was conducted in the preschool free play. Children’s choice of room was done by an activity board where the children who got to choose the room first had more choices as compared to the children who may choose last. Video observations were used as the method of data collection in the study. The observations were made at a preschool where established contact between the children and the observer already existed. The result of the study show that the children acted about as often under the standards of traditional gender roles, they acted as transgender. This, by both choice of play and the way they acted in the play. The essay was written as a part in my teacher education and it can contribute to arouse teachers to reflect about different gender roles in preschool. This by discussing gender roles and how they are portrayed in children’s’ free play.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how children play in free play from a gender perspective. We will examine how children do gender in the free play. Our questions in the study are: How is gender constituted in the selection of free play? How do children constitute gender identities in the free play? The study was conducted with a qualitative study where we used the observation collection method. We have analyzed the empirical material on the basis of gender theory, according Ingegerd Tallberg Broman. Based on our observations, we have seen that there are gender-stereotyped activities. In most games occur traditional male / female behavior. Boys were active and girls were more sedentary. We saw a few times how children negotiated traditional gender norms / Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur barn leker i fri lek ur ett genusperspektiv. Vi kommer att undersöka hur barn gör kön i den fria leken. Våra frågeställningar i studien är: Hur skapas genus i val av fri lek? Hur iscensätter barn genusidentiteter i den fria leken?Studien är genomförd med en kvalitativ undersökning där vi använt observationer som insamlingsmetod. Vi har analyserat det empiriska materialet utifrån genusteori, enligt Ingegerd Tallberg Broman. Utifrån våra observationer har vi sett att det förekommer könsstereotypa aktiviteter.I de flesta lekar uppstår traditionella manligt/kvinnligt beteenden. Pojkar var aktiva och flickor var mer stillasittande. Vi såg vid några tillfällen hur barn förhandlade om de traditionella könsnormerna.

Denna studie undersöker de pedagogiska tankar och uppfattningar som förskolepedagoger har gällande utevistelsen i förskolan. Studien omfattar tre parintervjuer och en gruppintervju med förskolepedagoger från fyra olika förskolor. Resultatet har visat att utevistelsen i förskolan inte planeras i samma utsträckning som inomhusvistelsen. Läroplanen i förskolan är tolkningsbar och när det gäller utevistelsen lämnas väldigt mycket till förskolepedagogernas egna tolkningar om hur de vill och ska arbeta med läroplanen när de befinner sig ute på förskolegården. Resultatet visar även att fri lek dominerar under utevistelsen och att pedagogerna gärna vill vara ”närvarande på avstånd”. Det har även framkommit att pedagogerna ser en del begränsningar som kan utgöra hinder för utevistelen. Dessa är bland annat stora barngrupper och att barnen inte ordentliga ytterkläder. Resultatet är analyserat utifrån ett socialkonstruktionistiskt perspektiv där det framkommit att utevistelsen genom vanemässigt handlande blivit en tradition som går på rutin. / This study investigates the pedagocial thoughts and opinions of nine preschool pedagogues from four different preschools, concerning the outdoor time. The result has shown, using interviews for gathering information, that the outdoor time in preschool is not to the same extent planned, as compared to the time spent indoors. According to the pedagogues, the curriculum for the Swedish preschool can be interpreted in many ways, therefore, it is up to the pedagogues to define what the curriculum means to them and decide how they want to work during the outdoor time. The result has also shown that free play is the dominating activity outdoors and that the pedagogues want to be “present from a distance”. It has also appeared that the outdoor time is limited because of difficulties such as large groups of children and a lack of proper clothes. The study is analysed from a social constructionism point of view and with this theory we have concluded that the outdoor time has, through habitualised actions, become a tradition in preschools.

<p>Through interviews with children of ages 4-5 years old and by observing children children at play at three preschools with different types of outdoor surroundings, I have investigated if the preschools outdoor surroundings have any influences on the children´ choice of play. The hypothesis was that natural surroundings can entice children´s interest in nature being in it and play. I have also investigated if the children know why it is important to be outdoors and if they know it has a positive influence on their health.</p><p>The result of my investigation is that the children play about the same games at the three different preschool gardens, but at the preschool with more natural surroundings, the children have more contact with plants and animals, and could learn of the different phenomena of nature by the preschool teacher answering their questions. Most of the children in the interviews know it´s useful to be outdoors and be on the move and get fresh air, but many of them thought it was most important to play. By being outdoors the children get exercise, fresh air, play and at the same time they establish an understanding of the nature and a healthier life.</p> / <p>Genom kvalitativa intervjuer med barn i åldern 4-5 år och observationer av barnens lek på tre förskolor med olika utformade utemiljöer har jag undersökt om förskolans utemiljö har någon inverkan på barnens val av lekar. Syftet var att undersöka om förskolans utemiljö påverkar barnens lek och om en mer naturlik utemiljö kan locka fram barnens naturintresse genom att de får vistas i den och ha fri lek där. Jag har även undersökt om barnen vet varför det är viktigt att vara ute och om de vet att det har positiv inverkan på deras hälsa.</p><p>Det visade sig att barnen leker ungefär samma lekar på de tre olika förskolegårdarna oavsett vilken utformning utemiljön har. Men vid den förskola som hade mer naturlig miljö, så kom barnen mer spontant i kontakt med djur och växter, och på så vis kunde de lära sig om naturens olika fenomen genom att en medforskande pedagog besvarade deras frågor och funderingar. De flesta av de intervjuade barnen visste att det var nyttigt att vara ute och röra på sig och få frisk luft, men många av dem tyckte det var viktigast att få leka. genom barnens utevistelse får de faktiskt alla dess tre faktorer, plus att de samtidigt får grunden till naturförståelse genom att de får leka fritt i naturen och att de håller sig friskare.</p>

The purpose of this study is to examine how children interact with each other in the free play. My questions have been which access strategies children use, how they use secondary adjustments and how they use language in order to gain position and status in the play. The study has been characterized by a qualitative research-oriented method, with interpretive analysis and qualitative interviews. The data collection was done through observations and conversations with children about their play. The children in the study are between the ages of three and five-years-old. The weakness of this study has been that I haven’t had enough children to observe and interview, because I didn’t get the parents approval to use their children in the study. This might have affected the result. The theories I have used in the analysis has been Löfdahl's theories of secondary adjustments and play acts and Corsaro's theories about how children's use of language in play varies depending on what status they have and his theories of access strategies.  The study shows that children are aware of what social codes they should follow in their pre-school groups. The results showed that the children have developed various secondary adjustments, both to teachers and other children in the group. The most common entry strategy to gain access to a play was request for access. This was such an approved strategy, the children rarely tried to gain access by any other strategies. The children showed awareness of which status the other children in the group had, children with a higher status, more often were allowed to have the control in play.

This study examines how girls and boys in grade three perform gender in their free play in a leisure center. The result of the study shows that both girls and boys choose to relate to gendernorms in their free play in various ways. While some students chose to adopt to gendernorms in thier free play some others chose to take part in the free play by braking the norms. This gender doing was done by students with the help of  the sex-encoded toys offered by the recreation center, the social interaktion, peer relations, language used by students were possible reasons för students gender doing. Thus, the gender and the language as two diffrent sociaal power axes contributed in some case to excluding certain pupils and including others, ehich means the power dominans of gender prevented some students to participate in the free play. Thus, I came to the conclusion that the power dominance of gender is not only an obstacle for students participation in play, but also limits thier possibilitis för action.

A sociabilidade humana tem merecido atenção especial para o entendimento da filogênese e ontogênese da espécie. Nos humanos, a característica de interagir com o parceiro, envolve uma capacidade peculiar de reconhecer estados mentais e emocionais de si mesmo e do outro, aqui referida como compreensão social. A literatura da área de desenvolvimento infantil indica uma provável relação entre a compreensão social de crianças e as interações que elas estabelecem em contextos lúdicos com seus pares de idade. As pesquisas, no entanto, dificilmente investigam os comportamentos que caracterizam essas interações em situação de brincadeira livre entre crianças pré-escolares. A partir da psicoetologia, a brincadeira entre pares é considerada um espaço ecologicamente relevante para o desenvolvimento da criança e atividade privilegiada para a observação de seu comportamento social. No presente estudo visamos caracterizar o comportamento de crianças pré-escolares em relação à capacidade de compreensão social quando observadas em situação lúdica triádica e avaliadas em testes individuais de teoria da mente e compreensão das emoções. Investigamos uma amostra de 31 crianças (50% meninas). Elas frequentavam o mesmo Centro Municipal de Educação Infantil, que lhes ofertava um atendimento diário, organizando-as em três agrupamentos etários (3, 4 e 5 anos). Os trios observados e videoregistrados em um ambiente lúdico, foram compostos por crianças do mesmo agrupamento, usando-se o critério de parcerias preferenciais ou neutras. Identificamos na situação de observação comportamentos de acesso/recepção (aproximação sem conflito, ação coordenada por cooperação, exibição, aproximação com conflito; intermediação, ação coordenada por imitação, pedido, convite e oferta) usados pelas crianças para se ajustarem aos parceiros de interação. Em decorrência de uma análise fatorial exploratória, esses comportamentos foram nomeados de: interações amistosas, interações agonísticas e propostas. Em seu conjunto, os resultados sugerem que as crianças apresentam, nas interações lúdicas com os seus pares de idade, uma compreensão do outro que as possibilita realizar ações ajustadas ao contexto interacional. As crianças de 5 anos apresentaram mais interações amistosas para acessar a situação já estabelecida ou receber uma nova criança, quando comparadas às de 4 e 3 anos; além disso, elas apresentaram um desempenho melhor no teste de teoria da mente e no teste de compreensão de emoções quando comparadas às mais novas, resultados que sugerem transformações ontogenéticas relevantes nessa idade. As análises realizadas permitem indicar um caminho ontogenético de desdobramentos e ampliação da compreensão social de crianças nas interações estas são tomadas como produto e instrumento da compreensão social o que reflete uma psicologia que evoluiu junto com a complexidade da vida em grupo. Os resultados também contribuem para a discussão sobre em que medida ter e usar a capacidade de compreender o outro são competências relacionadas. Indicamos que os comportamentos categorizados neste estudo ajudam a identificar tendências comportamentais que fazem parte do repertório da criança na interação lúdica com pares e que podem passar despercebidos em testes individuais ou situações experimentais de resolução de problemas. Compreensão social e desenvolvimento social podem constituir uma via de mão dupla com consequências para a exibição de comportamentos ajustados às demandas sociais / Human sociability is merited to highlight special attention to the understanding of phylogenies and ontogenesis, the evolutionary functions of the Homo sapiens species. Social understanding within the human context comprises of the capacity to attribute to mental and emotional states of oneself and to others. The current literature indicates potential links between childrens social understanding and their peer interaction in settings of play. Nevertheless, few studies have investigated the behaviors displayed in those interactions during free play among preschool children. From the human ethological approach, playing with peers is an ecologically relevant environment for childrens development; and for the observation of their social behaviors. This present study aims to describe pre-school childrens behaviors in terms of their social understanding abilities when they played freely in triad, and then were assessed individually on tests regarding theory of mind and emotional comprehension. The studys sample was composed of 31 typically developing children (50% girls) from low-income socioeconomic status, equally distributed in three age groups (3, 4 and 5 years old) and attending the same daycare group in Recife, Brazil. From the observation of the free play, we could identified access/receptive behaviors displayed by the children when adjusting their behaviors to those of their peer group (approach without conflict, cooperative coordinated action, exhibition, approach with conflict, intermediation, imitative coordinated action, request, invitation and offer). In result of a factorial exploration analysis, these behaviors were grouped: friendly interaction, agonistic interaction and proposal. We found age-related differences with regard to childrens behaviors while interacting with their peer group in the triadic playful situation, as well as on their performances in the individual tests. 5-year-old children showed more friendly interaction than 3 and 4-year-old children, either when accessing a situation already established by others or when welcoming a new child. The older children also performed better than the younger children on the theory of mind and emotional comprehension tests. There was no relation between the access/receptive behaviors in peer interaction and childrens performances on the individual conceptual tasks. The results suggest that, during ludic interaction with peers, children show an understanding of others, which allows them to adjust their action based on the interactional context. Although, children unfold and improve their understanding while interacting; interactions are both a product of and tool for social understanding; after reflecting on the psychological processes that evolved, according to the complexity of navigating within peer groups. The findings also contribute to the discussion regarding [having and using the ability to understanding others] are related competences. The behaviors categorized in this study aid the identification of childrens repertoire of behavioral patterns in ludic peer interaction, which very often cannot be grasped through individual tests or collaborative problem-solving situations in experimental settings. Social understanding and social development within children might constitute a bi-directional relationship, which brings consequences for the display of behaviors well-adjusted to social demands