A room of one's own : How children create and use own places in preschool

The aim of this study is to investigate how children express spatial autonomy in their preschool. Observations were made of one-to-three-year old children in free play in the preschool and in a nearby forest setting. The study is framed by Corsaro’s theory of peer culture and interpretive reproduction. It is a childhood sociological perspective that stresses the importance of children’s agency, children’s own contribution to their development. The results show three main strategies that children use to show spatial autonomy. The first is that children create places together, spatial autonomy evolve in interaction with peers. The second strategy is that they use high places to get a new perspective and gain a feeling of being on top of the world. The third strategy is how children make use of small spaces to withdraw. The expression of spatial autonomy is also a way for the children to gain control