Legeværksteder i overgangen: Børn som medskabere af 'passende' deltagelse

A criterion for a successful school start is that all children find motivation to join and participate in school activities and experience well-being at school. An empirical study was performed including 95 future school children and 12 ECEC pedagogues, who participated in five play workshops at their local school. The workshops were followed by participant observation. The article shows how children exchange and engage in pedagogically framed construction play in a variety of ways, thus actively creating relationships and well-being. With reference to theory on participation, as well as classical anthropological theory of social exchange, the authors argue that children should be encountered as agents and school start considered an empowering event. Eventually, the authors call for professionals to have an eye for children's strategies for social exchange and participation, in order to support their transitions from kindergarten to school on the basis of a broad understanding of ‘appropriate’ participation.