Engaging in computational thinking through outdoor free play with open-ended materials in an early childhood context

Recent K–12 computer science and digital fluency standards position computational thinking as a foundational competency, yet its integration into early childhood education remains contested due to concerns about developmental appropriateness and its persistent association with technology use. Drawing on observations of twelve children at a nature-based school in the northeastern United States, this study examines how computational thinking emerges during outdoor free play with open-ended materials. Specifically, it documents children’s engagement in practices such as modeling and simulation, data analysis and visualization, abstraction and decomposition, and algorithms and programming. Findings indicate that children naturally engage in key aspects of computational thinking through unstructured, play-based experiences. Researchers are encouraged to continue exploring this link, while educators are encouraged to experiment with leveraging the structure of Digital Fluency Standards to help protect and promote outdoor free play, particularly given its limited implementation despite well-established developmental benefits.