Play and learning :  A study of four teacher´s views on children´s playing and its impact on their learning

The purpose of this study is to find out how four preschool teachers view children’s free playing and its impact on their learning. My main questions are: How do the teachers view the children’s free playing? In what ways does the children’s free playing affect their learning, according to the teachers? This essay is based on a qualitative study in which I have interviewed four female preschool teachers of different ages. I highlight various theories of children’s playing and learning in preschool, by theorists such as Vygotsky, Lillemyr, Knutsdotter Olofsson, Lindqvist, among others. I chose to immerse myself in the teachers' views about children’s free playing and its impact on learning. The result that I found is that the children’s free playing has a great importance in preschool. The teachers have a positive attitude to the children’s free playing and believe that the children proceed from their imagination and creativity when they play. The results regarding the influence of playing in children’s learning, are that the children interact with each other, show empathy and sympathy, and that they learn from each other's experiences