森のようちえんに通う一女児の縦断的観察 : 主体性の育ちを中心に：３年間記録の１年目

The purpose of this research is to conduct a longitudinal study of one female child for three years in order to observe her independent activities in a Forest Kindergarten, outdoor daycare with few restrictions by adults. In this article, we analyzed the first-year video record taken once a month from April 2015 to March 2016. We also measured the number of steps all 20 children walked during the free play time by using pedometers. Behavioral indicators showed that they tended to engage in the following activities: resting state (93.5%), the standing position (83.2%), the manipulation of hands (86.7%), and coming close (78.3%). On the other hand, “play and work” were just 40.9%, suggesting that she had no idea at first what to do with extensive outdoors because they were allowed to do anything they wanted in the woods where there are few playground equipment and toys. It is considered that what is important is the process of finding out the things that they want to do. There were as many as 48 kinds of “play and work” under the environment in which children have time to play freely for about three hours with seasonal changes. Lunchtime and the place to eat were varied each month, revealing Forest Kindergarten’s atmosphere of freedom in which children do not eat lunch in the same place and time. All children’s average steps taken for an hour were 1612.0, showing that they do not necessarily walk so much, compared to other kindergartens and nursery schools.