Mapping Artificial Intelligence Integration in Kindergarten Teaching: Usage Patterns, Pedagogical Purposes, and Acceptance Factors Among Teachers with Prior AI-Use Experience

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used in education, yet evidence regarding its adoption by kindergarten teachers remains limited, particularly in Indonesian early childhood settings. This study investigated the AI tools used by kindergarten teachers, their educational purposes, implementation challenges, and technology acceptance factors influencing AI integration in Malang, Indonesia. The design used was an exploratory sequential mixed-methods approach. Ten Guru Penggerak and five kindergarten administrators participated in interviews, observations, and document analysis to gather qualitative data. Findings informed a questionnaire administered to 250 kindergarten teachers selected through equal-allocation stratified random sampling across five districts of Malang City. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to analyze quantitative data. Qualitative findings showed that teachers used AI for lesson planning, play-based learning design, storytelling, media creation, assessment, documentation, parent communication, and professional learning. Teachers critically reviewed AI-generated content to ensure developmental, curricular, cultural, ethical, and safety appropriateness. Major challenges included limited AI literacy, inadequate infrastructure, restricted premium features, inaccurate outputs, insufficient institutional support, and privacy concerns. According to quantitative findings, behavioral intention was positively and substantially correlated with performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and enabling factors, but there was no statistically significant correlation with social influence. Behavioral intention influenced the effects of performance expectation, effort expectancy, and enabling environments and was substantially correlated with self-reported AI integration. These results imply that teachers’ perceptions of AI’s utility, usability, institutional support, and professional competence all play a role in its successful incorporation in kindergarten. Strengthening AI literacy, prompting skills, ethical awareness, and developmentally appropriate pedagogical practices is essential for sustainable AI implementation in early childhood education.