Children Draw Talking and Playing

Today Cyrena Hunt-Madden and I began the analysis of data to consider what children say about their talking while they are playing. This child was interesting. He said he was "Not talking. Just playing".

Children Draw Playing - Journal article team leaders' meeting

 

Carolyn, Medhi, Belinda, Brendon and Sharynne 

Today was the first meeting for 2026 of the lead authors to write up our Children Draw Playing dataset and the journal article leads outlined their aims, data sets, team members and target journals and conferences. Thanks to Dr Carolyn Gregoric for preparing the data set and leading ~20 CVC members to analyse the data in 2025. Here are some of the proposed papers. The first one is almost ready to submit :)

1. Children draw playing around the world: Carolyn Gregoric and Sharynne McLeod (leads) with 20 CVC affiliates as co-authors
2. Children draw playing in Mongolia: Carolyn Gregoric (lead)
3. Talking during play: Sharynne McLeod (lead)
4. Concepts of play: Belinda Downey (lead)
5. Why is drawing good for the world: Belinda Downey (lead)
6. Drawing movement: How children depict and describe active play: Brendon Hyndman (lead) 
7. PEO analysis: Mehdi Rassafiani (lead)  
8. Cultural historical activity theory: Shukla Sikder (lead)   

Children Draw Play reliability analysis

Thanks to Azizur Rahman who has worked closely with Carolyn Gregoric to undertake the analyses to determine the reliability of our Children Draw Playing data. We met on a very hot day (42oC in some cities) to discuss and write up the Cohen's kappa analyses.

 

Children Draw Playing - Data coding is mostly finished - planning next steps

This morning 9 members of our interdisciplinary research team met to discuss our coding of the Children Draw Playing drawings. We are now up to analysis and writing papers. The children are teaching us so much through their 181 drawings.

 

Children Draw Playing - Data coding

We are getting close to finishing the data coding for the Children Draw Playing Global Online Gallery. Around 20 CVC affiliates have been working in teams to code the drawings. Today Dr Carolyn Gregoric and Dr Helen Blake and I finalised the coding for The World Gallery. The children have provided wonderful insights into play through their drawings.

 We also had helpful companions during our analysis task :) 

 

Children Draw Playing - Analysis of data from Mongolia

Today was the next meeting of our data analysis team to analyse the Children Draw Playing data from Mongolia. There are a number of Children's Voices Centre teams undertaking the analysis of the 200 drawings.

 

 

Children Draw Playing data analysis

At the Children's Voices Centre we have a number of research opportunities where CVC affiliates to collaborate. Dr Carolyn Gregoric is leading the analysis of the Children Draw Playing data presented at the ECV2024 conference and available online in the Children Draw Playing Global Online Galleries:  https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/children-draw-playing/

We have four teams who are spending 20-30 minutes per drawing to answer 60+ questions to create the data for analysis. Today our team worked for 1.5 hours and analysed three drawings from the Mongolian dataset. We had rich discussions and were impressed by what the children could convey in their drawings.

Congratulations to Belinda Downey and her team (Mehdi, Arifa, Van and Katrina G) who have already completed their analyses.

Children's Voices Centre: Children's play in Mongolia

This evening we had a fascinating session about children’s play in Mongolia presented by Altaituya (Agi) Burnee. This session was particularly insightful for affiliates involved in our Children Draw Play project.

The Children Draw Playing Global Online Gallery: Mongolia is available here: https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/children-draw-playing/ 

Altaituya came to Australia to undertake a Masters thesis in education at Flinders University.  Altaituya recently returned to Mongolia and is now working in a school. 

• Burnee, Altaituya, 2024 Schoolteachers’ perspectives on an anti-bullying program in Gobi-Altai Province, Mongolia, Flinders University, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work https://theses.flinders.edu.au/view/3b991c60-0a64-487c-b4dc-c8e73a52bc13/1 

• View Altaituya's ECV2024 presentation here https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early- childhood-voices-conference-2024/ecv2024-405/

What a fascinating session!

Altaituya Burnee, Sharynne McLeod, Kate Crowe (Iceland), Carolyn Gregoric, Tamara Cumming, Sarah Verdon, Mehdi Rassafiani, Laura Hoffman

 

 

Children Draw Playing - data analysis team

Meeting 2 with enthusiastic colleagues from the Children's Voices Centre - competently led by Dr Carolyn Gregoric

 

Children Draw Playing - Meeting 1

Eighteen colleagues from across CSU have expressed interest to join our new research project to analyse the drawings created by children in our ECV2024 Children Draw Playing Global Online Galleries. https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/children-draw-playing/

We had a very productive interdisciplinary meeting today lead by Dr Carolyn Gregoric with perspectives shared from education, occupational therapy, education, speech pathology, physiotherapy and nursing. This is going to be a fun and informative project.

 

ECV2024 presentations by our team

Here are the presentations from our team at ECV2024 this week

1. Children draw talking: Interdisciplinary insights into drawings from 200 children from 24 countries - Sharynne McLeod, Carolyn Gregoric, Jessamy Davies, Lysa Dealtry, Laura Delli-Pizzi, Belinda Downey, Sheena Elwick, Suzanne C. Hopf, Nicola Ivory, Holly McAlister, Elizabeth Murray, Azizur Rahman, Shukla Sikder, Van H. Tran, Cherie Zischke
2. Building The Treehouse: A physical and virtual children’s research environment co-designed with children, colleagues, community - Sharynne McLeod
3. Indigenous children’s speech, language and communication: Identifying and co-creating resources and services - Sharynne McLeod, Emily-Jane Woodhead, Sarah Bartlett, Ebony Hay, Carolyn Gregoric
4. Using an implementation science framework to co-design and test the Speech Assessment of Children’s Home Language(s) (SACHL) - Kate Margetson and. Sharynne McLeod
5. Voices and visions: Engaging children with childhood apraxia of speech in intervention research- Marie Ireland, Anna Cronin, Jane McCormack, Sharynne McLeod, Cen Wang, Caroline Tiong
6. Adaptation of the Early Childhood Voices Drawing Protocol for collecting children’s experiences of play - Carolyn Gregoric, Shukla Sikder, Suzanne C. Hopf, and Sharynne McLeod
7. “Absolutely cuddled out” – Building personal resources to build retention - Belinda Downey, Will Letts, Leanne Gibbs, and Sharynne McLeod
8. Caregiver implemented intervention for early communication development: A review of evidence for Hanen® programs - Sarah Bartlett and Sharynne McLeod
9. Children on Australian university campuses: A rapid review of internal policies, guidelines, and procedures - Carolyn Gregoric, Sharynne McLeod, Suzanne C. Hopf, and Claudio Dionigi
10. Multilingual children’s speech development - Sharynne McLeod and Helen L. Blake
11. Children’s speech development: English (Australian) - Sharynne McLeod and Helen L. Blake
12. Children’s speech development: English (Fiji) - Holly McAlister, Suzanne C. Hopf, Paul A. Geraghty, Sharynne McLeod
13. Children’s speech development: English + Vietnamese - Kate Margetson, Sharynne McLeod, Van H. Tran, Sarah Verdon, Ben Phạm 
14. Children's speech development: Cantonese - Carol Kit Sum To, Pamela Cheung, Sharynne McLeod
    
15. Children’s speech development: Vietnamese - Ben Phạm, Kate Margetson, Sharynne McLeod, Van H. Tran, Sarah Verdon - https://multilingual-childrens-speech-development.csu.domains/ecv2024-570/

CSU Media: Playtime! Inaugural International Day of Play promotes play for a better world

 

CSU Media have just posted the following news item: https://news.csu.edu.au/latest-news/playtime!-inaugural-international-day-of-play-promotes-play-for-a-better-world

"Charles Sturt University academics organising the Early Childhood Voices Conference (ECV2024) in November are joining the celebrations of the inaugural International Day of Play on Tuesday 11 June by inviting children to draw themselves playing.

• Organisers of the Early Childhood Voices Conference (ECV2024) in November are inviting children to ‘draw themselves playing’ in recognition of the importance of play and International Day of Play on Tuesday 11 June
  

• Play is a universal language spoken by people of all ages, transcending national, cultural and socio-economic boundaries
  

• ECV2024 is a free interdisciplinary international conference to share research about innovative methods, theories, and partnerships with children, families and practitioners
  

Charles Sturt University academics organising the Early Childhood Voices Conference (ECV2024) in November are joining the celebrations of the inaugural International Day of Play on Tuesday 11 June by inviting children to draw themselves playing.

Conference co-chair Dr Belinda Downey (pictured left, below with co-organisers) in the Charles Sturt School of Education said the first-ever International Day of Play marks a significant milestone that encourages all people, especially children, to prioritise playing and reap the beneficial rewards offered though play. “Play has the power to transcend geographic, linguistic, cultural and socio-economic boundaries as it is a universal language,” Dr Downey said. “Play can foster relationships, a sense of community, and national pride while supporting well-being and skill development.” Dr Downey said research since the late 1800s has argued the role of play is fundamental in children’s learning and development.

“Through play, children can learn to solve their problems, with support from adults and independently. Play also assists children to develop agency in their lives, cultivate their resilience by overcoming fears, acquire conflict resolution skills essential for navigating life, and build their empathy and communication skills which are crucial for all their ongoing interactions and relationships,” she said. “Early childhood professionals, including teachers and allied health practitioners, have long understood that engaging with play intentionally supports children’s cognitive, social, emotional and physical skill development.”

Researchers have found that intentional, guided play offers an optimal space for children to learn. Intentional, guided play can occur through various activities like modelling, demonstrating, open-ended questioning, speculating, explaining and participating in shared problem-solving and thinking tasks with other children and adults. Dr Downey explained that play environments that are engaging, welcoming and reflective of children’s interests and cultural backgrounds serve to stimulate their curiosity and promote meaningful and challenging experiences. These environments and the relationships children develop through play facilitate the interactions that foster high-level thinking.

“Intentional and guided play are important but open-ended, spontaneous and child-centred play also hold an important role in children’s development,” she said. “Play with peers provides children the necessary space and time to engage in critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity, form friendships, and learn to communicate effectively. “These crucial skills set children up for academic success and lifelong learning and are developed during play.”

In celebration of International Day of Play, the organisers of the ECV2024 Conference are creating a global online gallery of children’s drawings titled Children Draw Playing. This will be similar to the Children Draw Talking Global Online Gallery that was created in 2022 for ECV2022 where 200 children from 24 countries submitted drawings. “Drawing is a form of play that offers children an inclusive way to teach adults about children’s perspectives and experiences of the world,” Dr Downey said. “We want to share the voices of children from around the world in our international gallery by asking them to draw about their play.” Parents can enter their child’s drawing here. ECV2024 is a free interdisciplinary international conference focused on sharing research about innovative methods, theories and partnerships with children, families, and practitioners. It supports social justice during early childhood and within the early childhood sector. International speakers will present research or commentary in a virtual online space. Presentations will share innovations to improve the lives of children and families and support the evidence-based practice of early childhood educators. The ECV2024 conference will be held online from Monday 25 to Thursday 28 November and registrations can be made online at the conference website. Presentation submissions from early childhood researchers are welcome. Please submit an Abstract here.

Media Note: To arrange interviews with Dr Belinda Downey, contact Bruce Andrews at Charles Sturt Media on mobile 0418 669 362 or via news@csu.edu.au Photo: (left to right) Dr Belinda Downey (ECV2024 chair), Dr Carolyn Gregoric (ECV2024 conference secretary), Professor Sharynne McLeod (ECV2024 chair)

 

ECV2024 Children’s Voices Committee - ready for children's input

The ECV2024 Children’s Voices Committee had a very productive and creative meeting today. We are planning to have two child-focussed tasks at ECV2024. We are asking children to test these ideas/questions for our upcoming conference. Then we will invite the world's children to participate:

ECV2024 Children's Voices Committee - 27 Feb 2024

1. CHILDREN PLAYING (for all children) 

Draw (make/create) yourself playing 

Tell me about your picture … 

1. What are you doing in the picture? • What are you playing? • What are you playing with? 
2. Where are you playing? 
3. Are you playing with someone? yes/no • Who are you playing with? • Are you talking? • What are you talking about? 
4. Which one are you?
5. How do you feel about playing?
6. How is playing good for the world? 

2. CHILDREN’S SOLULTIONS (for older children) 

How would you make the world a better place? Pitch your solution by writing a story or making a presentation (e.g., PowerPoint) 

THANK YOU FROM THE ECV2024 CHILDREN’S VOICES COMMITTEE