WHAT MATTERS MOST
FOR FIVE-YEAR-OLDS
Play, Create
and Learn:

Rationale for
this work
Implications for
early learning
systems
Key
findings
What’s next
for early
years work
in the OECD?
An overview
1
3
2
4

Early years development in focus
Increasing interest in children’s early learning outcomes arises from:
Concerns about
uneven quality of
ECEC provision.
Desire to
improve
equity for
disadvantaged
children.
Growing realisation that
early learning improves
later success in school
and child well-being.
Increasing investment
in Early Childhood
Education and Care
(ECEC).

We know early development predicts adult outcomes
(Source: Bartik, 2014)
30.0
25.0
20.0
15.0
10.0
5.0
0.0
End-of-programme
test scores
Third grade
test scores
Adult outcomes
Abecedarian
Perry
Head Start
CPC
Predicted
percentage
effects on adult
earnings of
early childhood
programmes,
based on test
scores versus
adult outcomes.

An holistic approach is most effective
ADULTHOOD
EARLY
CHILDHOOD
AND
CHILDHOOD
Language and Literacy
Numeracy
Visual-Motor
Skills
Attachment
Social
Well-Being
Emotional
Health
Self-Regulation
LIFE OUTCOMES
• General well-being
• Life satisfaction
• Physical and
mental health
• Educational achievement
• Employment, income,
socio-economic status
• Citizenship

Are we
here?
Or here?
Or not doing
well at all?
"How are
children
really
doing?"
"Are all groups of
children getting
a strong early
start?"
"Is our early
learning system
really making a
difference for
children?"
Data is critical to improving children’s outcomes

Why are the views of children important?
• Enjoyment of early learning
environments influences
children’s development and
dispositions to later schooling.
• Children are the best judges
of how well their learning
environments work for them.
• Information from children helps
education leaders and practitioners
to provide positive early learning
environments.

We have seen that children can clearly express their views

The Future
at Five
GENDERED ASPIRATIONS
OF FIVE-YEAR-OLDS
LAUNCHED
MARCH 2021

What do five-year-olds like best about their ECEC
centre or school?
"What do you like best about
your centre or school?"

Findings based on more than
4 500five-year-olds
from England and Estonia

Key findings
"I like to do everything:
play, to do activities, to
go outside."
• Children are
overwhelmingly
positive about
their early learning
environments.
• They like many things.
• Very few would prefer
to be at home.

What children like most …
Playing Making and
creating
Learning Being
physically
active
Resting
and eating
Being with
their friends
and teachers
Having choice
over what
they do

Playing
Playing was the
most common response
from children.
4out of 10 five-year-olds
say it is the best part of being
at their ECEC centre or school.

And
playing
is fun!
Playing supports children’s development
Playing helps children to:
• Build social connections
with other children.
• Learn to co-operate and negotiate.
• Develop their language skills.

"I like sledding with my
friends and also
sharing toys with each
other."
Children like different types of play
Playing games 14%
Playing with toys 36%
Playing outdoors 8%
Pretend play 6%
Playing indoors 2%
Playing with sand 1%
Playing with friends 34%

Children also like making and creating
GIRLS
Drawing
RANK BOYS
1 Building
Building 2 Drawing
Colouring 3 Making crafts
Music 4 Colouring
Making crafts 5 Painting
Painting 6 Music
Modeling clay 7 Dance
Dance 8 Modeling clay

"Playing with the LEGO
- making a ship and a
house."
Opportunities to be creative foster specific skills
Engaging in creative arts in
early childhood fosters:
• Creativity
• Innovation
• Problem-solving. The use of building blocks
and other building materials
has been linked to later
mathematical abilities.

Girls tend to prefer art and crafts, rather than building
Favourite things to do at ECEC centres and schools:
Mentioned
by girls
on average
Mentioned
by boys
on average
Arts and
crafts
13%
6%
Building
and
construction
2%
7%

Learning
Five-year-olds who
mentioned enjoyment
of learning:
Girls Boys
13% 11%
Top SES
12%
Bottom SES
10%
Learning was the 3rd most popular
choice among five-year-olds.
"Learning new
complicated stuff because
it's hard first then you get
better and better."

Mental
flexibility
14
34
31
Enjoyment of learning is linked to early skill development
The difference
between mean
scores of
children who
like learning
best and mean
scores of
children overall
0
20
40
60
80
Mean scores of children who like learning best, compared to the overall mean for children.
Emergent
literacy
Emergent
numeracy
Working
memory
Empathy
67
1
2
3
27
34
56
Prosocial Non-disruptive Trust
behaviour behaviour
31

Children like learning …
Language
and literacy
learning
1 2
3
Followed by
numeracy
"I love learning
and it makes
me smart."
2
1

Being physically active is slightly more popular
with boys than girls
Popularity of sport and exercise among boys and girls:
7%
4%
Boys
Girls
"I like to go on the big
field because there is
a lot of space to run."

Favourite physical activities
Children’s favourite
ways of being physically
active at ECEC/school:
• Physical education
• Running
• Going for a walk
• Football
• Climbing.

5
Eating and resting is top-of-mind for many five-year-olds
The 5th most popular
activity of five-year-olds
is eating and resting.
For some children, the focus
is on having a break from
organised activities, while for
other children, food seems to
be the most important point.
"To play, to eat
and to sleep."

Being with their friends and teachers is also valued
by five-year-olds
Five-year-olds who mentioned friends:
10%
Mentioned
playing with
friends
Mentioned
friends with
no reference
to playing
3.5%
"I like my teacher because
she is so nice. She is
very kind and helps
people in my class."

Children also like having choice
Another popular
preference among
five-year-olds is
having some choice
over what they do.
"It's fun because when
it's Choosing Time you
get to do what you want
to do."

37
30
24
50
15
12 3
48
Mean scores of children who like having choice best, compared to the
overall mean for children.
Mental
flexibility
0
20
40
60
80
Emergent
literacy
Emergent
numeracy
Working
memory
Empathy Prosocial Non-disruptive Trust
behaviour behaviour
Children who like having choice have higher cognitive and
social-emotional development than other children
1
2
3
The difference
between mean
scores of
children who
like having
choice best
and mean
scores of
children overall

Provide ample
opportunities
for children
to play.
Enable children
to make and
create their own
designs and
structures.
Engage children in
developmentally-
appropriate
learning, such as
language-related
and emergent
numeracy activities.
Support children
to have some
level of control
over the
activities they
undertake.
Implications – to keep children engaged
1 2
3
4

Conclusions
• Children can and should be able to
express their views on their early
learning environments.
• Their views can inform policy and
practice decisions.
• Regular collection of children’s views,
alongside development data, supports
education leaders and practitioners
to provide positive early learning
environments.

What’s next for early years work at the OECD
• The 2nd cycle of the International Early Learning
and Child Well-being is now open to countries/
sub-national jurisdictions to join.
• New analysis is focused on risk and resilience in
the early years. What can we learn from IELS data
on how to create a strong start for every child?
• Other current work includes the implications of
digitalisation for Early Childhood Education and Care.

Is there a trade-off
between play and
learning? How do
education systems
know they are getting
the right balance?
Panel discussion
How important is it
to collect children’s
views? What are your
recommendations to
education leaders and
practitioners on this?
How does being
creative and
making things
support children’s
development?