Images of Play Experiences Through a Child’s Lens: An Exploration of Play and Digital Media with Young Children

This research documents the use of digital media by young children in outdoor play spaces. The research was conducted at a child care center on an urban university campus in the southeastern USA. The research employed a participatory design and used a qualitative, reflexive approach to include the child’s voice, ideas, and understandings of their play through the use of child-created, digital images. Four forms of digital imagery were evident: performance imagery in which an image or scene was orchestrated; live action imagery in which a playful experience was created so that the photographer or videographer would appear on film; documentary imagery in which the camera became a tool to capture or describe an everyday image or event; and mobile image audiencing in which the original photographer or videographer was unintentionally captured in the digital record or intentionally recorded by other children as the original artist paused to review, edit, or display their work to others. Children displayed a sophisticated understanding of how they could construct or co-construct knowledge, culture, and identity through the use of digital media. This research provides insight into children’s spontaneous play and their roles as creators and consumers of digital media and imagery. © 2017, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.