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Play Station: Child Explains, Parent Listens

Method

Play Station: Child Explains, Parent Listens

Children guide parents through a media-related play or toy, explaining how and why they use it

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Overview

  • Target group:
    Parents, Children
  • Group size:
    Individual, Small group
  • Duration:
    30–45 min
  • Materials:
    • Media-related toys, digital or analogue (e.g., story box, music box, tablet app, book with sound)

Goal

Empower children to become storytellers of their media use and foster mutual understanding with parents.

Steps

1

Set up media-related play stations in the kindergarten.

2

Invite parents during open house or family afternoon.

3

Let children guide their parents through each station.

4

Educators observe and support reflections:

  • What did you learn about your child's preferences?
  • What surprised you?
Tips

Prepare 3–4 simple play stations with various media types (e.g. audio, visual, tactile):

  • Station 1: Storybooks with sound buttons
  • Station 2: Simple drawing app on a tablet
  • Station 3: Music box or recorded songs
  • Station 4: Magnetic story tiles or puppet play

Print prompt cards for parents with questions such as:

  • "What do you like most about this?"
  • "Can you show me how it works?"
  • "What does this remind you of?"

Use a reflection card for parents with sentence starters:

  • "I learned that my child..."
  • "It surprised me that..."

Keep background noise low to support active listening.

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