Design Principles for Computing Education in Early Childhood
Resumo
This study addresses the need for clear guidelines to teach computing in early childhood, given young children’s growing exposure to technology. It investigates how to design activities that integrate computational concepts while supporting holistic development. Aimed at teachers planning design processes, these principles ensure children actively collaborate in creating computing tools and that the experience remains meaningful. Derived from thematic analysis of scientific literature and validated by a focus group of computing and early education experts, five principles emerged. Findings demonstrate that linking family experiences to cooperative tasks provides educators foundation to cultivate digital literacy and computing education from the earliest school years.Referências
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Bekker, T., Bakker, S., Douma, I., Van Der Poel, J., and Scheltenaar, K. (2015). Teaching children digital literacy through design-based learning with digital toolkits in schools. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, 5:29–38.
Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative research in psychology, 3(2):77–101.
de Morais, D. C. S., Falcão, T. P., and Tedesco, P. (2024). Promoting children’s participation in a participatory design process in a rural school: A new role needed? Journal of the Brazilian Computer Society, 30(1):116–132.
De Paiva, N. M. N. and Costa, J. (2015). A influência da tecnologia na infância: desenvolvimento ou ameaça. Psicologia. pt, 1:1–13.
Druin, A. (2002). The role of children in the design of new technology. Behaviour and information technology, 21(1):1–25.
Fischer, G., Giaccardi, E., Ye, Y., Sutcliffe, A. G., and Mehandjiev, N. (2004). Metadesign: a manifesto for end-user development. Communications of the ACM, 47(9):33–37.
Flood, V. J., Wang, X. C., and Sheridan, M. (2022). Embodied responsive teaching for supporting computational thinking in early childhood. In Proceedings of the 16th International Conference of the Learning Sciences-ICLS 2022, pp. 855-862. International Society of the Learning Sciences.
Grizioti, M. and Kynigos, C. (2021). Children as players, modders, and creators of simulation games: A design for making sense of complex real-world problems: Children as players, modders and creators of simulation games. In Proceedings of the 20th Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference, pages 363–374.
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Hai, A. A., Neris, V. P. d. A., Neris, L. d. O., and Vivaldini, K. C. T. (2023). Descobrindo o computar: tecnologia, ciências, design e computação para crianças de 4 e 5 anos. Cadernos CEDES, 43(120):5–18.
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Martins, E. C. (2021). Atividades didáticas para o ensino de computação na pré-escola.
Martins, E. C., da Silva, L. G. Z., and de Almeida Neris, V. P. (2023). Systematic mapping of computational thinking in preschool children. International Journal of ChildComputer Interaction, 36:100566.
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Neris, V. A. and Hai, A. A. (2023). Tecnologia e educação: Ciências, computação (des) plugada e pensamento computacional na educação de crianças de 4 a 10 anos.
Neto, B. S. and Neris, V. (2018). Towards an interaction model for the programming of devices by children in the age of internet of things. In Proceedings of the 17th Brazilian Symposium on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pages 1–5.
Neto, B. S., Neris, V., and Rodriguez, C. (2021). Building an iot programming environment with and for preschool children. In Proceedings of the XX Brazilian Symposium on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pages 1–11.
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Sentance, S. and Csizmadia, A. (2017). Computing in the curriculum: Challenges and strategies from a teacher’s perspective. Education and Information Technologies, 22:469–495.
Silva Neto, B., Rodriguez, C., and Neris, V. (2023). Buttons, devices, and adults: How preschool children designed an iot programming tool. Interacting with Computers, 35(2):301–314.
Valente, J. A. (1999a). Informática na educação no brasil: análise e contextualização histórica. O computador na sociedade do conhecimento. Campinas: UNICAMP/NIED, pages 1–13.
Valente, J. A. (1999b). O computador na sociedade do conhecimento. Campinas: Unicamp/NIED, page 75.
Valente, J. A. (2005). Pesquisa, comunicação e aprendizagem com o computador. O papel do computador no processo ensino-aprendizagem. In: ALMEIDA, MEB, pages 22–31.
Van Mechelen, M., Høiseth, M., Baykal, G. E., Van Doorn, F., Vasalou, A., and Schut, A. (2017). Analyzing children’s contributions and experiences in co-design activities: Synthesizing productive practices. In Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children, pages 769–772.
Wohl, B., Porter, B., and Clinch, S. (2015). Teaching computer science to 5-7 year-olds: An initial study with scratch, cubelets and unplugged computing. In Proceedings of the workshop in primary and secondary computing education, pages 55–60.
Yu, J., Hayden, R., and Roque, R. (2023). Exploring computational thinking with physical play through design. In Proceedings of the 22nd Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference, pages 124–136.
Bekker, T., Bakker, S., Douma, I., Van Der Poel, J., and Scheltenaar, K. (2015). Teaching children digital literacy through design-based learning with digital toolkits in schools. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, 5:29–38.
Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative research in psychology, 3(2):77–101.
de Morais, D. C. S., Falcão, T. P., and Tedesco, P. (2024). Promoting children’s participation in a participatory design process in a rural school: A new role needed? Journal of the Brazilian Computer Society, 30(1):116–132.
De Paiva, N. M. N. and Costa, J. (2015). A influência da tecnologia na infância: desenvolvimento ou ameaça. Psicologia. pt, 1:1–13.
Druin, A. (2002). The role of children in the design of new technology. Behaviour and information technology, 21(1):1–25.
Fischer, G., Giaccardi, E., Ye, Y., Sutcliffe, A. G., and Mehandjiev, N. (2004). Metadesign: a manifesto for end-user development. Communications of the ACM, 47(9):33–37.
Flood, V. J., Wang, X. C., and Sheridan, M. (2022). Embodied responsive teaching for supporting computational thinking in early childhood. In Proceedings of the 16th International Conference of the Learning Sciences-ICLS 2022, pp. 855-862. International Society of the Learning Sciences.
Grizioti, M. and Kynigos, C. (2021). Children as players, modders, and creators of simulation games: A design for making sense of complex real-world problems: Children as players, modders and creators of simulation games. In Proceedings of the 20th Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference, pages 363–374.
Hai, A. A., Neris, V. P. d. A., Neris, L. d. O., and Vivaldini, K. C. T. (2020). Aprendendo e experimentando tecnologia e ciências na educação de crianças de 4 a 5 anos. pages 231–.
Hai, A. A., Neris, V. P. d. A., Neris, L. d. O., and Vivaldini, K. C. T. (2023). Descobrindo o computar: tecnologia, ciências, design e computação para crianças de 4 e 5 anos. Cadernos CEDES, 43(120):5–18.
Kapanen, H. et al. (2019). Children’s turn to participate! educational co-design with children. Tarbiya: revista de investigación e innovación educativa.
Kenski, V. M. (2003). Educação e tecnologias: o novo ritmo da informação. Papirus editora.
Krueger, R. A. (2014). Focus groups: A practical guide for applied research. Sage publications.
Martins, E. C. (2021). Atividades didáticas para o ensino de computação na pré-escola.
Martins, E. C., da Silva, L. G. Z., and de Almeida Neris, V. P. (2023). Systematic mapping of computational thinking in preschool children. International Journal of ChildComputer Interaction, 36:100566.
MEC (2021). Base nacional comum curricular.
MEC (2022). Base nacional comum curricular - computação: Um complemento à bncc.
Menezes, S. V., de Oliveira Neris, L., Vivaldini, K. C. T., Hai, A. A., Miguel, C. C., and de Almeida Neris, V. P. (2023). Um arcabouço teórico para o ensino de computação para crianças de 4 e 5 anos pautado no codesign. In Simpósio Brasileiro de Informática na Educação (SBIE), pages 948–959. SBC.
Moran, J. M. (2005). A integração das tecnologias na educação. Salto para o Futuro, 204:63–91.
Neris, V. A. and Hai, A. A. (2023). Tecnologia e educação: Ciências, computação (des) plugada e pensamento computacional na educação de crianças de 4 a 10 anos.
Neto, B. S. and Neris, V. (2018). Towards an interaction model for the programming of devices by children in the age of internet of things. In Proceedings of the 17th Brazilian Symposium on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pages 1–5.
Neto, B. S., Neris, V., and Rodriguez, C. (2021). Building an iot programming environment with and for preschool children. In Proceedings of the XX Brazilian Symposium on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pages 1–11.
Scott, L. A. (2017). 21st century learning for early childhood: Guide. Battelle for Kids.
Sentance, S. and Csizmadia, A. (2017). Computing in the curriculum: Challenges and strategies from a teacher’s perspective. Education and Information Technologies, 22:469–495.
Silva Neto, B., Rodriguez, C., and Neris, V. (2023). Buttons, devices, and adults: How preschool children designed an iot programming tool. Interacting with Computers, 35(2):301–314.
Valente, J. A. (1999a). Informática na educação no brasil: análise e contextualização histórica. O computador na sociedade do conhecimento. Campinas: UNICAMP/NIED, pages 1–13.
Valente, J. A. (1999b). O computador na sociedade do conhecimento. Campinas: Unicamp/NIED, page 75.
Valente, J. A. (2005). Pesquisa, comunicação e aprendizagem com o computador. O papel do computador no processo ensino-aprendizagem. In: ALMEIDA, MEB, pages 22–31.
Van Mechelen, M., Høiseth, M., Baykal, G. E., Van Doorn, F., Vasalou, A., and Schut, A. (2017). Analyzing children’s contributions and experiences in co-design activities: Synthesizing productive practices. In Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Interaction Design and Children, pages 769–772.
Wohl, B., Porter, B., and Clinch, S. (2015). Teaching computer science to 5-7 year-olds: An initial study with scratch, cubelets and unplugged computing. In Proceedings of the workshop in primary and secondary computing education, pages 55–60.
Yu, J., Hayden, R., and Roque, R. (2023). Exploring computational thinking with physical play through design. In Proceedings of the 22nd Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference, pages 124–136.
Publicado
24/11/2025
Como Citar
RODRIGUES, Stefane Menezes; NERIS, Vânia Paula de Almeida.
Design Principles for Computing Education in Early Childhood. In: SIMPÓSIO BRASILEIRO DE INFORMÁTICA NA EDUCAÇÃO (SBIE), 36. , 2025, Curitiba/PR.
Anais [...].
Porto Alegre: Sociedade Brasileira de Computação,
2025
.
p. 564-577.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/sbie.2025.12534.
