Enhancing Map Skills in Young Children through Guided Play: Insights from a Kindergarten Classroom in Türkiye

This study investigates the way a kindergarten teacher implemented a three-stage project to support children's map understanding. The project, the Map and Play, was designed to help children understand the relationship between reality and its abstract representation. The guided play was adopted as the pedagogical approach because it empowers children to make independent decisions, encourages critical thinking, and offers opportunities for exploration. At the same time, adults take part in purposeful activities alongside the children. The research employed an ethnographic methodology involving classroom observations, video recordings, and interviews. Content analysis was used to explore the data sources. The results illustrated the stages taken to introduce children to the idea of map considering scientific research about how to foster map understanding. The data displays occasional mistakes made by the teacher, offering valuable insights into the dynamics of classrooms where similar activities might be introduced. The MPP was a promising experience for kindergarten children in enhancing their map reasoning and use of spatial language. Still, there is a need for teacher training to guide this complex learning process effectively.