Young people learning through play: Some observations from a science museum

Abstract

This paper explores the nature of playfulness in young people. Observations and a small-scale questionnaire study consider the characteristics of, and dispositions towards, playfulness in a particular setting: the Thai Toy gallery of the National Science Museum in Thailand. While not initially seen to be a ‘zone of play’, the gallery has deliberately invoked a sense of play through the use of toy-making activities. A small sample of 60 young visitors to the museum was invited to make-and-play activities with traditional Thai toys as part of their family groups, and exploratory data were collected to explore their behaviours and self-ratings of playfulness. These young visitors largely enjoyed the activities, and in their responses to the questionnaire portrayed themselves as happy, funny and cheerful. A very small minority proved to be more solemn, distant and unengaged by the event. The paper discusses further work to be done in this area.