Preschool children’s creation and storytelling through an element of their everyday life. The case of the program “The neighborhoods of Athens in a book”

Abstract

In recent decades, many case studies have been carried out on the ability of preschool children to tell a story. Most studies take place in a kindergarten setting. The present research was conducted on the occasion of an educational program that took place within the framework of the “Open Schools” initiative. This institution offers free recreational and education programs to the children of the Municipality of Athens in neighborhoods facing serious economic problems due to the economic crisis. This program gave the opportunity to 25 preschool children to talk about their neighborhood and create their own book. Even though the conditions were not favorable (time was not enough and the children did not know each other), in the end they were able to tell and illustrate a story by choosing a single element of their environment. In this case study, children were encouraged to create and communicate through play and free expression.