Despite the widespread use of YouTube by children, there has been limited research undertaken on the “why” questions of their use. Past theoretical approaches have framed these questions in terms of broader individual needs and their relation to media use, though this work has mainly focused on adults and adolescents. This article presents relevant findings from a mixed methods study of children’s (aged 0–16) uses of social media in the United Kingdom to consider instead the “purposes” of children’s YouTube use, drawing on: (1) an online family survey; (2) family case studies; (3) child focus groups; and (4) child telephone interviews. “Purpose” is theorized in the article in relation to the ways children themselves make sense of and articulate the reasons they use YouTube or, in the case of parents and carers, for allowing, facilitating, or encouraging their children to use YouTube. Parents tended to frame the purposes of children’s YouTube use more instrumentally, focusing on perceived educational benefits and their own convenience needs. While sharing a focus on instrumental purposes, children sometimes emphasized broader dimensions of purpose, with an increased focus on humor, sensory, and hedonic dimensions. Children’s responses also emphasized the autotelic nature of play. The study foregrounded the extent to which the purposes of others (such as commercial entities) are served by children’s YouTube use. Seven child-centered, parent-centered, and “other” purposes for children’s YouTube use are discussed: cognitive, corporeal, cultural, collaborative, creative, commercial, and convenience.

This paper outlines the findings from a study that examined the tablet and app use of children aged from birth to three. The aim of the study was to examine how far use of tablets and apps promoted play and creativity. A total of 954 UK parents of children aged from birth to three who had access to a tablet in the home completed an online survey that explored the children’s use of apps. Ethnographic case studies of four children aged from birth to three were undertaken in homes in order to explore in greater depth issues that emerged in the survey. The paper reports on the way in which the use of tablets promoted play and creativity across cognitive, physical social and cultural domains. The implications for policy and research are outlined.

Structure of presentation This presentation will be in the form of a collective, rather than the traditional symposium format of several connected papers. Our collective presentation will have three parts. Part 1 We will begin with an introduction to the project, the Day in the Digital Lives of Children aged 0-3, by members of DigiLitEY Working Group 1 Children in Homes and Communities. We will briefly explain the rationale for the project, before moving to the project design including methodological and ethical dilemmas. Part 2 The second part of the presentation will centre on two technologies in the home: the TV and the tablet. Each presenter will briefly describe the place of the TV and tablet in the family studied in terms of children’s engagement with the technology during the ‘day’ and the family’s attitudes towards it as explored through direct observation and interview data. This will be illustrated through still images where permissions allow and/or diagrams. Part 3 Our discussant, David Poveda, a member of the research team, will draw some threads together, discusses implications for understanding the place of technologies in the lives of young children and their families, and open up the discussion with the audience

This essay introduces the 'MakEY' (Makerspaces in the Early Years: Enhancing Digital Literacy and Creativity) project that involves seven European countries, and works with partners from across the world. The countries involved are running makerspaces for young children in kindergartens, schools, libraries, museums and community centers. The contexts and settings are varied, and a wide range of approaches are being adopted across the various countries. This essay considers the value of providing young children with opportunities to tinker, make and hack using a range of tools, including digital fabrication tools and other technologies. The essay identifies the key principles that should underpin such work, such as encouraging multimodal, technology-mediated playful learning, fostering maker mind-sets and agentic exploration, valuing both processes and products and facilitating interdisciplinary work.

In 2018, the BBC announced a new education strategy to help address language and communication delays in children starting primary school. David Hancock investigates how the initiative and others across England are working to tackle the issue

The aim of the study reported in this paper was to identify the value that makerspaces can have in early childhood education (ECE). Drawing on data from research on makerspaces in four early childhood settings in a northern city in England, part of an international project on makerspaces in the early years ("Makerspaces in the Early Years: Enhancing Digital Literacy and Creativity" or MakEY), we identify three key principles that are integral to this provision: maker agency, maker funds of knowledge, and postdigital maker play. The paper identifies that makerspaces lead to the development of skills and knowledge that will become increasingly important in societies that are becoming highly technologized.

How do makerspaces aid the provision of STEM learning in the early years? By Professor Jackie Marsh, Alex Ardron, Zoe Clayton and Diane Hetherington

The Moomins are characters in a popular set of tales written by Swedishspeaking Finnish writer and artist Tove Jansson (1914–2001), first published in Finland in 1945 (Westin, 2014). The Moomin family, hippopotamus-like creatures, live in Moominvalley, and have featured in numerous movies and television programs. Jansson’s books about the Moomin family have been translated into 45 languages, and are among the most widely translated works of Finnish literature (Kurhela, 1996). A TV series of the Moomins was aired in the United Kingdom in the 1980s, but since then, English children’s main introduction to the Moomin world has been through Jansson’s books.

This vignette outlines the potential that Virtual Reality (VR) has for fostering children’s creativity. Augmented Reality (AR) and VR technologies have become popular over recent years. VR offers a simulation of a threedimensional image or environment that allows interaction with people wearing specially designed glasses or headsets, thus enabling the user to feel immersed in the virtual world. AR consists of a blend of the physical world and virtual world. In this blended reality, threedimensional images or environments are projected onto a physical object, but users are not immersed in the same way as they are with VR experiences. The list of possible uses for AR and VR is growing. In a research project we conducted (Marsh et al., 2015), a sizeable minority of parents of children under five reported that their children used AR A sevenyear old girl, Jade, is taking part in a virtual reality makerspace workshop in a primary school in Sheffield, run as part of a project called Makerspaces in the Early Years: Enhancing Digital Literacy and Creativity (MakEY). Drawing on her experiences of play in her immediate environment, captured using an iPad camera, Jade has created an imaginative playworld using collage materials pasted onto a printout of one of her digital images. She has now been asked to create her playworld virtually, using the Google Tilt Brush program. Jade dons an HTC Vive headset that is connected to a laptop, and she grasps a controller in each hand. She is now immersed in the virtual world and can only navigate the physical classroom environment through touch, along with some supportive guidance from adults who support her if she appears to be unsteady on her feet. Jade’s hands wave about in the air as she twists and turns; she is creating her playworld as if she is standing physically inside it, with her virtual drawing displayed on the laptop screen for observers to see in real time (see Figure 1). Another child in the same class, recounting her own experience of this process, exclaimed, “I saw heaven!”

This study is the first to systematically investigate the extent to which apps for children aged 0–5 foster play and creativity. There is growing evidence of children's use of tablets, but limited knowledge of the use of apps by children of children of this age. This ESRC-funded study undertook research that identified how UK children aged from 0 to 5 use apps, and how far the use of apps promotes play and creativity, given the importance of these for learning and development. A survey was conducted with 2000 parents of under 5s in the UK, using a random, stratified sample, and ethnographic case studies of children in six families were undertaken. Over 17 hours of video films of children using apps were analysed. Findings indicate that children of this age are using a variety of apps, some of which are not aimed at their age range. The design features of such apps can lead to the support or inhibition of play and creativity. The study makes an original contribution to the field in that it offers an account of how apps contribute to the play and creativity of children aged five and under.

This column outlines key principles that should underpin the use of augmented and virtual reality in the language arts curriculum.

In this paper, the potential relationship between creative citizenship and what may be termed ‘maker literacies’ is examined in the light of emergent findings from an international project on the use of makerspaces in early childhood, “MakEY” (see http://makeyproject.eu). The paper outlines the concept of creative citizenship and considers the notion of maker literacies before moving on to examine how maker literacies might be developed in early-years curricula in ways that foster civic engagement. Three vignettes are offered of makerspaces in early-years settings and a museum in Finland, Norway, and the UK. The activities outlined in the vignettes might be conceived of as ‘maker citizenship’, a concept which draws together understandings of making, digital literacies, and citizenship. The paper considers the implications of this analysis for future research and practice.