Lanterns: Configuring a Digital Resource to Inspire Preschool Children's Free Play Outdoors

Thomas Dylan; Abigail Durrant; Sena Çerçi; Shaun Lawson; John Vines

doi:10.1145/3411764.3445745

Lanterns: Configuring a Digital Resource to Inspire Preschool Children's Free Play Outdoors

Thomas Dylan, Abigail Durrant, Sena Çerçi, Shaun Lawson, John Vines

Computer and Information Sciences Department

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

30 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Previous HCI research has highlighted opportunities for digital technologies to support outdoor play amongst children. However, the tendency has been to focus on older children and forms of play that are structured and rule-based. We report on a Research-through-Design (RtD) inquiry, grounded in an Embodied Interactional approach, that investigated configurations of off-the-shelf Internet of Things (IoT) tool-kits to inspire new forms of free play outdoors for preschool children. We designed the Lanterns, a tangible interactive resource that is made using household materials and guided by a template, and which explores new possibilities to inspire social play and embodied interaction outdoors. Based on observations of the Lanterns being used by preschool children and Early Years Practitioners outdoors, we identify qualities of free play promoted by the Lanterns outdoors, such as enchantment, improvisation, anticipation and choice. We discuss our findings by defining three sensitising concepts to support future design research in this space: Choosing the Way; Improvising through Movement; Anticipating a Response.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Editors	Yoshifumi Kitamura, Aaron Quigley, Katherine Isbister, Takeo Igarashi, Pernille Bjørn, Steven Drucker
Place of Publication	New York
Publisher	ACM
Pages	1-15
Number of pages	15
ISBN (Print)	9781450380966
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445745
Publication status	Published - 6 May 2021
Event	ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2021) - Online, Yokohama, Japan Duration: 8 May 2021 → 13 May 2021 https://chi2021.acm.org/ https://chi2021.acm.org

Publication series

Name	Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Publisher	ACM

Conference

Conference	ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2021)
Abbreviated title	CHI 2021
Country/Territory	Japan
City	Yokohama
Period	8/05/21 → 13/05/21
Internet address	https://chi2021.acm.org/ https://chi2021.acm.org

Keywords

interaction design
tangibles
iot
tool-kits
preschool
children
free play
outdoor play
pervasive play

Access to Document

10.1145/3411764.3445745

LanternsPaper_CameraReady_SubmissionAccepted author manuscript, 11.5 MB

Cite this

Dylan, T., Durrant, A., Çerçi, S., Lawson, S., & Vines, J. (2021). Lanterns: Configuring a Digital Resource to Inspire Preschool Children's Free Play Outdoors. In Y. Kitamura, A. Quigley, K. Isbister, T. Igarashi, P. Bjørn, & S. Drucker (Eds.), Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-15). Article 635 (Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems). ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445745

Dylan, Thomas ; Durrant, Abigail ; Çerçi, Sena et al. / Lanterns : Configuring a Digital Resource to Inspire Preschool Children's Free Play Outdoors. Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. editor / Yoshifumi Kitamura ; Aaron Quigley ; Katherine Isbister ; Takeo Igarashi ; Pernille Bjørn ; Steven Drucker. New York : ACM, 2021. pp. 1-15 (Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems).

@inproceedings{8ed1c63a5ebe4148ab7dc816a7dc7e1e,

title = "Lanterns: Configuring a Digital Resource to Inspire Preschool Children's Free Play Outdoors",

abstract = "Previous HCI research has highlighted opportunities for digital technologies to support outdoor play amongst children. However, the tendency has been to focus on older children and forms of play that are structured and rule-based. We report on a Research-through-Design (RtD) inquiry, grounded in an Embodied Interactional approach, that investigated configurations of off-the-shelf Internet of Things (IoT) tool-kits to inspire new forms of free play outdoors for preschool children. We designed the Lanterns, a tangible interactive resource that is made using household materials and guided by a template, and which explores new possibilities to inspire social play and embodied interaction outdoors. Based on observations of the Lanterns being used by preschool children and Early Years Practitioners outdoors, we identify qualities of free play promoted by the Lanterns outdoors, such as enchantment, improvisation, anticipation and choice. We discuss our findings by defining three sensitising concepts to support future design research in this space: Choosing the Way; Improvising through Movement; Anticipating a Response.",

keywords = "interaction design, tangibles, iot, tool-kits, preschool, children, free play, outdoor play, pervasive play",

author = "Thomas Dylan and Abigail Durrant and Sena {\c C}er{\c c}i and Shaun Lawson and John Vines",

note = "Research funded by EPSRC, UK (EP/P025544/2).; ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2021), CHI 2021 ; Conference date: 08-05-2021 Through 13-05-2021",

year = "2021",

month = may,

day = "6",

doi = "10.1145/3411764.3445745",

language = "English",

isbn = "9781450380966",

series = "Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems",

publisher = "ACM",

pages = "1--15",

editor = "Yoshifumi Kitamura and Aaron Quigley and Katherine Isbister and Takeo Igarashi and Pernille Bj{\o}rn and Steven Drucker",

booktitle = "Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems",

address = "United States",

url = "https://chi2021.acm.org/, https://chi2021.acm.org",

}

Dylan, T, Durrant, A, Çerçi, S, Lawson, S & Vines, J 2021, Lanterns: Configuring a Digital Resource to Inspire Preschool Children's Free Play Outdoors. in Y Kitamura, A Quigley, K Isbister, T Igarashi, P Bjørn & S Drucker (eds), Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems., 635, Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, ACM, New York, pp. 1-15, ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2021), Yokohama, Japan, 8/05/21. https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445745

Lanterns: Configuring a Digital Resource to Inspire Preschool Children's Free Play Outdoors. / Dylan, Thomas; Durrant, Abigail; Çerçi, Sena et al.
Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ed. / Yoshifumi Kitamura; Aaron Quigley; Katherine Isbister; Takeo Igarashi; Pernille Bjørn; Steven Drucker. New York: ACM, 2021. p. 1-15 635 (Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - Lanterns

T2 - ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2021)

AU - Dylan, Thomas

AU - Durrant, Abigail

AU - Çerçi, Sena

AU - Lawson, Shaun

AU - Vines, John

N1 - Research funded by EPSRC, UK (EP/P025544/2).

PY - 2021/5/6

Y1 - 2021/5/6

N2 - Previous HCI research has highlighted opportunities for digital technologies to support outdoor play amongst children. However, the tendency has been to focus on older children and forms of play that are structured and rule-based. We report on a Research-through-Design (RtD) inquiry, grounded in an Embodied Interactional approach, that investigated configurations of off-the-shelf Internet of Things (IoT) tool-kits to inspire new forms of free play outdoors for preschool children. We designed the Lanterns, a tangible interactive resource that is made using household materials and guided by a template, and which explores new possibilities to inspire social play and embodied interaction outdoors. Based on observations of the Lanterns being used by preschool children and Early Years Practitioners outdoors, we identify qualities of free play promoted by the Lanterns outdoors, such as enchantment, improvisation, anticipation and choice. We discuss our findings by defining three sensitising concepts to support future design research in this space: Choosing the Way; Improvising through Movement; Anticipating a Response.

AB - Previous HCI research has highlighted opportunities for digital technologies to support outdoor play amongst children. However, the tendency has been to focus on older children and forms of play that are structured and rule-based. We report on a Research-through-Design (RtD) inquiry, grounded in an Embodied Interactional approach, that investigated configurations of off-the-shelf Internet of Things (IoT) tool-kits to inspire new forms of free play outdoors for preschool children. We designed the Lanterns, a tangible interactive resource that is made using household materials and guided by a template, and which explores new possibilities to inspire social play and embodied interaction outdoors. Based on observations of the Lanterns being used by preschool children and Early Years Practitioners outdoors, we identify qualities of free play promoted by the Lanterns outdoors, such as enchantment, improvisation, anticipation and choice. We discuss our findings by defining three sensitising concepts to support future design research in this space: Choosing the Way; Improvising through Movement; Anticipating a Response.

KW - interaction design

KW - tangibles

KW - iot

KW - tool-kits

KW - preschool

KW - children

KW - free play

KW - outdoor play

KW - pervasive play

U2 - 10.1145/3411764.3445745

DO - 10.1145/3411764.3445745

M3 - Conference contribution

SN - 9781450380966

T3 - Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

SP - 1

EP - 15

BT - Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

A2 - Kitamura, Yoshifumi

A2 - Quigley, Aaron

A2 - Isbister, Katherine

A2 - Igarashi, Takeo

A2 - Bjørn, Pernille

A2 - Drucker, Steven

PB - ACM

CY - New York

Y2 - 8 May 2021 through 13 May 2021

ER -

Dylan T, Durrant A, Çerçi S, Lawson S, Vines J. Lanterns: Configuring a Digital Resource to Inspire Preschool Children's Free Play Outdoors. In Kitamura Y, Quigley A, Isbister K, Igarashi T, Bjørn P, Drucker S, editors, Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. New York: ACM. 2021. p. 1-15. 635. (Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems). doi: 10.1145/3411764.3445745

Lanterns: Configuring a Digital Resource to Inspire Preschool Children's Free Play Outdoors

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this