Book Description

Past research has shown that special places are a significant part of children's lives providing spaces for children to gain a sense of privacy, to create their own rules, and to play. Special place studies have, however, been limited to outdoor settings, middle childhood experiences, and preschool environments. This study expands past research by exploring the locations, experiences, and characteristics of preschool children's special places in the home environment. Set in a preschool in a rural Rocky Mountain West community, the first phase consisted of book discussions and representation activities with thirty-one children. Eight children participated in the home visits of the second phase, which included special place tours, informal child and parent interviews, and field note observations. Three cycles of data analysis were included: holistic coding to identify emerging themes, taxonomic and provisional coding to categorize and quantify the place locations and experiences, and axial and theoretical coding in order to identify common characteristics of the children's places. Indoor special places (i.e., in the closet, in the bedroom, the bed, behind the couch, and under the table) were more common than outdoor places (i.e., in the sand box, the swings, under the tree, and the trampoline). A few places located in the community and imaginary places were also identified. Children participated in play, hiding, and other sedentary activities in their special places, all of which appeared to provide them with a sense of control and autonomy, or a feeling of comfort and/or privacy. Dolls, stuffed animals, toys, and blankets were the most common objects taken to their places, which seemed to enhance their place experiences. Most children experienced their special places alone; however, siblings and friends also accompanied them on occasion. Some children claimed places to retreat when they felt upset. These special places appeared to be restorative, with children emerging feeling better. Many of their special places were physically small, restricting adult access. Family, culture, and other social factors appeared to influence some of the place locations and experiences. This study is the first to identify preschool children's special places in the home. However, the findings are context specific; therefore, more research is needed to understand special places in different cultural and geographical settings, as well as to provide a developmental model of how special places evolve in children's lives.