Dear Parents and Guardians,

We would like to invite your child to participate in a study investigating how preschool and kindergarten-aged children engage with science and engineering. Specifically, we are looking at the types of science and engineering practices (e.g. asking scientific questions, conducting investigations, developing models, etc.) that emerge, naturally as children play, and the specific learning environments, materials, and “teacher moves” that support children’s learning through play. We hope to use what we learn to help teachers recognize and support the science and engineering that children engage with through play.

In order to investigate the science in children's play, researchers will be video and audio recording children at play both in the classroom and outside (if an outdoor play space is part of your school). This research will be conducted by Drs. Alison Riley Miller, Lauren Saenz, and Hildah Kwamboka of Bowdoin College. This research will be spaced over the school year with one or more researchers spending approximately three hours per day over nine days total (approximately 27 hours) observing children engaged in play. We will do our very best to be as unobtrusive observers and will follow all protocols related to visitors in your child’s school.

Please watch this video for a brief introduction to the project.

Thank you for considering this opportunity to support play-based science learning for kids! Please feel free to contact Alison Miller (amiller2@bowdoin.edu) if you have any questions.