Chapter 5: “Next Time we can be Penguins”: Expanding the Concept of Learning Play to Support Learning and Teaching About Sustainability in Early Childhood Education

Learning play is a concept that emphasizes the importance of relationships between children, adults, content, and context as a basis for understanding pedagogical play-based learning practices in the early childhood curriculum (Pramling Samuelsson & Johansson, 2006). In this chapter, we expand the concept of learning play, drawing on Vygotsky’s (2004) argument that children need rich experiences to support combinatorial activity and the generation of new ideas. We use findings from our research with teachers about sustainability education in early childhood to describe the combination of three types of pedagogical play as a vehicle for providing children with these rich experiences. The teaching and learning experiences of a teacher (Belinda) and a four-year-old boy (Finlay) are shared to illustrate the potential that expanding the concept of learning play has for supporting learning and teaching about sustainability in early childhood education.