The aim of this study was to obtain new information about the diversity of everyday activities and social relations among children with special education needs (N = 145) in Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC) units. In this research children´s daily activities, involvement, target of attention and social relations during play and other social activities in different groups formed according to children’s special educational needs are investigated. Results revealed that children with problems in self-regulation and children with major disabilities spent less time with peers and in various social activities than children with developmental language disorder and children without special education needs. The results suggest that inclusive practices are still only under development within the Finnish ECEC units. Practical implications of the results concerning ways to support children’s equal participation in daily activities in early childhood education and in building peer relationships, regardless of the amount of needed support are discussed.

This paper aims to determine possible gender differences in children’s observed emotional expressions and their relationship with teacher-rated self-regulation (SR) skills in the setting of early childhood education and care (ECEC). Supporting SR and emotional wellbeing in early childhood can be considered a favourable pathway towards holistic development (e.g. Shonkoff et al. [2012]. The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress. Pediatrics, 129(1), e232–e246; Bagdi & Vacca [2005]. Supporting early childhood social-emotional well being: The building blocks for early learning and school success. Early Childhood Education Journal, 33(3), 145–150). The participants included 1213 (44.2%) boys and 1075 (41.0%) girls which were 13–83 months old. The SR data was collected through an evaluation instrument. Emotional expressions (N = 50480) were observed with an independent instrument. The results indicated how girls were observed to have more neutral, calm or peaceful-related emotional expressions, while boys tended to express more surprise, curiosity, anger or frustration-related emotions. Boys’ and girls’ ability for SR was related to their emotional expressions. Boys’ and girls’ SR skills had the same tendency in weak, moderate and good SR categories.

The study presented in this article is part of a larger study called Progressive Feedback (blogs.helsinki.fi/orientate), which is an early childhood education and care (ECEC) research and development project. The aim of this article is to find out (a) how childreńs tested creative thinking abilities, fluency, originality and imagination correlated with childreńs social orientations in kindergarten and (b) how childreńs participative orientations occur in relation with the teacher and peers. The data consist of Reunamo’s child interview tool and the Thinking Creatively in Action and Movement (TCAM) test. The data (280 children from 23 kindergartens and pre-primary schools) were gathered from two municipalities in southern Finland. The results show that the participative orientation was strongly connected with creative thinking abilities, but it was rare in social situations concerning adults. In participative orientation, children concern the situation and intend to change it.

Documentation in early childhood education and care (ECEC) institutions has been developed for decades in various contexts. Today, documentation is preferred as an inclusive method of evaluating, planning, and developing ECEC in the curricula of many countries. Qualitative research on documentation has increased in past years, but quantitative research on the connections between documentation and ECEC practice has remained behind. We will present a study in which a total of 2889 children, 194 kindergartens and preschools, and 179 teams of ECEC educators in 13 municipalities in Finland participated. On the basis of our quantitative analysis, we argue that documentation is inherently connected with child-centred and carefully planned ECEC practices and the children’s participation, well-being, and ability to learn. One of our main findings is that documentation is not yet fully exploited in the Finnish ECEC. As a result, we encourage ECEC officers and educators to develop documentation further.

The present study investigated the role of music education in early childhood education and care (ECEC) in relation to the daily activities of children ages one to three, i.e. toddlers (N = 918) in Finnish ECEC units (N = 327). A total of 23,142 random observations were conducted. The observations focused on children’s involvement, emotional expressions, social orientations and interaction with their immediate caregiver. An independently conducted survey was used to evaluate music emphasis in groups to which the observers did not have access. The data consist of the analysis of teachers’ self-evaluations concerning the role music plays in daily activities and developmental orientations of toddlers in ECEC. The connections between the large-scale observations and independently measured music emphasis are discussed in the Results section. The results of the study highlight the importance of music in ECEC pedagogy for toddlers. The children in groups where music/singing was emphasised exhibited more sustained intense activity and less low or interrupted involvement. These groups also exhibited more positive emotions, increased social adaptation and increased social involvement with adults. Special emphasis on music enhanced the pedagogical learning environment.