Kilcloon Early Years Preschool undertook a pilot using multiple methods to involve children in decision-making. There were twenty-two children in the pre-school room (fifteen boys and seven girls). The children were aged two years and eight months to three years and six months. The educators in Kilcloon Early Years Preschool prioritise the voice of the child in
their daily practice using a play based emergent curriculum.

How the preschool decided to pilot the use of multiple methods to get the views of children
Some children were playing in a risky and adventurous way in the cosy corner inside the preschool. One of the educators explained to the children that the cosy corner is where children come to rest and look through books and that there is not enough space inside to play this way. This conversation led to one of the boys asking: “Can we play roughly when we are outside (words of the child)?” The preschool staff decided to act on the little boy’s wishes and pilot the use of multiple methods to get the views of children on a fair and safe approach to enabling risky and adventurous play.

How the educators gave children a voice in decision-making on risky and adventurous play
The educators used a collection of interconnected methods to give children a voice on risky and adventurous play and ensure that their views were acted on, as outlined below:
1.  Group conference (discussions with all children in the room);
2.  Documentation in pictures (photos taken by children and educators);
3.  Facial and body awareness emoji game;
4.  Children’s drawings;
5.  One to one discussion;
6.  Observations of educators.

The educators used these methods with children on a regular basis to check back with the children and make sure that they were happy with their own decisions about risky and adventurous play.

1. Group conference about the idea of the pilot
• At the start of the pilot, the educators held a discussion with the children about the request for risky and adventurous play.
• The discussion included the views of those who like risky and adventurous play and those who do not.
• Some children do not like risky and adventurous play, and some children do not like noise. These children had their views heard and acted on through the availability of quiet areas both in their indoor room (cosy corner) and in the garden (fairy garden). In these areas, the children agreed that there would be no risky and adventurous play.
• The children suggested that there should be rules and made up their own initial rules for the risky and adventurous play.
• The children agreed that risky and adventurous play should only happen on the grass area of the outdoor space.

2. Documentation in pictures
• The children and educators took photos of real time risky and adventurous play activity.
• New photos were taken on a regular basis, as children’s games and how they like to interact changed all the time.

3. Facial and body awareness emoji game
• All the photos were printed.
• The children were given smiley, blank and sad face stickers and invited to stick whatever emoji they wanted on each photo.
• The children divided the photos into happy, sad, and unsure bundles.
• Some photos had a variety of emojis on them, so the children made a bundle of photos that didn’t fit in the happy, sad, and unsure bundles.
• The photos with emojis were stuck on a big photo board.
• The children looked at the photos and accompanying emojis, and the educator facilitated discussion by asking questions such as:
– What’s happening in the photos?
– What do you see in the children’s faces in the photos?
– What are children doing with their bodies in the photos?
– What do you think children are feeling in the photos?
• These questions generated discussions about how children can play in a safe and inclusive way.
• The educator wrote the exact views of each child beside the emojis they stuck on each photo on the board.
• The educators allowed this to be a daily evolving process that enabled children to take photos off the board at any time and change their emoji if they had changed their minds about a particular form of play.
• Children were invited to take new photos on a regular basis to ensure that they were always able to express their views about risky and adventurous play.
• Copies of the photos were left in a box that was available to children all the time so they could continuously give their views about the kind of play they like and don’t like.

4. Using children’s drawings to make the rules for risky and adventurous play
• From the beginning, the children had suggested that there should be rules for risky and adventurous play.
• They made up their own rules for risky and adventurous play and changed them on a regular basis, based on the views they expressed on the photo board.
• They did drawings of the rules they agreed, and the educators wrote the children’s exact words on each drawing.
• The drawings with the rules for risky and adventurous play were stuck on the walls.

5. One to one informal conversation
• Some children didn’t like to talk in the big group when they were playing the emoji game, although all children shared their views by using emojis on the photos.
• The educators found moments throughout the day to discuss the photos and emojis with those children and give them the opportunity to have their views heard. Individual children often said things like, ‘I liked it when we played roughly today’ (words of a child) or ‘I never like playing rough’ (words of a child).
• Other children often joined in these informal conversations and took part in problem solving.

6. Observations of educators
• The educators observed the children during outdoor play time.
• At different times during the day and at the end of the day, the educators reflected on and kept notes and observations on what was working well and what needed problem solving.
• The educators positively reinforced the rules and gave feedback to children to support and encourage their social and emotional development, problem solving and conflict resolution skills.
• Such discussions often led to children suggesting some change in the rules.
• The children needed the opportunity to change the rules regularly because they couldn’t imagine what works and does not work unless it is live, happening and real.