"Och sen sköt du mig!" : En vetenskaplig essä om barnens vapen- och krigslekar på förskolan

Sammanfattning: This scientific essay deals with children's gun- and war plays in preschool. The story describes the situation, where preschool children are playing pretended gun- and war play. Pedagogues have different opinions about the play, which is problematic. My intent in this essay is to find out, through the dilemma I have described, why children play gun and war games, whether these games affect a child’s development, and how I as a preschool teacher should approach these games. As a method, I use a scientific essay in which I reflect on the story through the curriculum, play theories, literature, and research data. In my reflections, I use play theories to gain an understanding of why this theme often occurs in children’s play and what children explore when playing gun and war games. I have used research articles in order to explain how these plays the development of children and how pedagogues should approach the gun and war plays. In addition, I have reflected on these questions in relation to the curriculum and literature.  Through the writing of this essay, I have got a better idea of why children play weapon and war games. Furthermore, I have understood that gun- and war plays are an issue that need to be discussed openly in preschool in order for the preschool teachers have a common opinion.