This study explores the use of interactive Artificial Intelligence (AI)-interfaced robotic toys within early childhood (EC) settings to develop children’s inquiry literacy. Arguments about the appropriate role of AI in EC education have received much attention when examining the potential of the integration of technology into children’s play and learning. Using Vygotsky’s mediation theory (1978) and employing a design-based research methodology, teachers intentionally used AI robotic toys to engage children (4–5 years old) during play experiences. The data from both teachers’ and children’s interviews, observations and artefact analysis revealed how children creatively collaborated with their peers to create a sustainable city for their robot and ‘his’ family to live happily. Children’s play with the AI robot fostered inquiry literacies – namely creative inquiry, emotional inquiry and collaborative inquiry. This study contributes to research by exploring the use of AI toys together with physical and artificial environments and offers a case to shape children’s inquiry literacies. Implications lie in upskilling EC teachers to provide opportunities to play with AI-interfaced robotic toys to foster children’s inquiry literacy development process.

A body of research is emerging on early childhood education teachers’ views on the integration of digital technologies in their practice. Despite evidence of the digitalisation of homes in affluent societies and children’s interactions in highly mediated digital environments, few teachers so far have integrated digital devices into a play-based pedagogy. Thus, this project aimed to examine the attitudes and aptitudes towards digital devices of teachers in their personal lives and professional practice in five countries (England, Luxemburg, Malta, Greece and Kuwait). An online survey designed to collect broad-scale data was followed by focus group interviews. The findings demonstrated that although teachers are digitally competent in their personal lives, there is a dominant ideology regarding the nature of play-based pedagogy that hinders the integration of digital devices into their practice.

Scholars in the field of early childhood education are still debating the inclusion of digital technologies in play-based pedagogy and our understanding of digital play in early childhood education is still developing. This research paper examines early childhood education teachers’ views, aptitudes and attitudes towards digital technologies in their personal lives and in the classroom practices in Kuwait. This is a quantitative study in which 195 teachers completed a questionnaire designed around the key themes of the investigation in an attempt to understand how teachers are positioning themselves in terms of a play-based pedagogy and digital technologies. The key findings demonstrated that although the Kuwaiti teachers are competent users of digital technologies in their personal lives and the Kuwaiti classrooms have been digitalised to a large extent, the teachers are still hesitant in embedding these in their curriculum practices.

Over the recent years there has been a shift in the field of early childhood research to involving young children in the research process. A vast body of literature [Evans, P., & Fuller, M. (1996). Hello. Who am I speaking to? Communicating with pre-school children in educational research settings. Early Years, 17(1), 17–20; Clark, A. (2004). Listening as a way of life. London: National Children's Bureau; Clark, A., & Moss, P. (2001). Listening to young children: The mosaic approach. London: National Children's Bureau; Clark, A., & Moss, P. (2005). Spaces to play: More listening to young children using the Mosaic approach. London: National Children's Bureau; Thomson, P. (Ed.). (2008). Doing visual research with children and young people. Abingdon: Routledge; Farrell, A. (Ed.). (2005). Ethical research with children. Maidenhead: Open University Press] discusses methods to be used with young children in research by means of participatory methods and listening to children's voices. A number of researchers mentioned throughout the paper have offered creative and innovative research tools that enable young children to participate in research. While recognising the responsibility to keep the discourse around children's participation alive, there is a need to problematise it as well as the issue of participation of young children is a complex one which requires continuous critical refection. Thus the enquiry I conduct here employed grounded theory and aims to examine the paradigm of children's participation in research. It is suggested in this paper that although participation is a vitally important element in researching young children, the discourse of children's participation should be focused additionally on ethical praxis of the research which should revolve around six key layers: intersubjectivity, indivisibility, phronesis, parsimony, equilibrium and finally the power of relationships and interaction between children and adults. As a consequence of this enquiry I conclude that all methods become relevant to research with children when ethical praxis characterises the nature of the project.

This Australian study examines whether and how technologies such as Artificially Intelligent (AI) toys in a home-based setting might socially and emotionally support children with diverse needs through play. Building on the concept of ‘emotional capital', and employing a design-based research approach, parents during the COVID-19 lockdown periods in 2020 intentionally used robotic toys to engage their children with additional diverse needs in home-based play experiences. The data from both parents’ and children’s (n = 5) Zoom interviews, digital observations and children’s drawings demonstrated how children creatively conversed with their AI robots in innovative and empathy-based dialogues that generated happy feelings and a sense of ‘imaginary’ togetherness with their robot during the coding experiences. This study contributes to research by exploring the use of AI robotic toys together with physical and artificial environments and offers a case to build children’s emotional capital in enabling children’s social-emotional literacies.