Play is one of the most significant and used forms of activity in early childhood education. We have fun with play, learn things with it, practice working together and get to know the world around us. Gaming is a form of play, and player types for gamification have been studied since the late 90s, when they were divided into four types: social, explorers, achievers and killers. Player types for children’s free play, on the other hand, have not been studied. In this thesis, the research questions were to find out which types of players can be found when classifying player types in children’s free play, as well as what types of players there are and how they can be classified. The goal of the study was to produce a classification of player types in free play, which shows the different types of players and their strengths or characteristics. The thesis was carried out as a qualitative study. Fifteen (15) six-year-old children in early childhood education were observed during free play. 12 observable play situations were implemented for 10–25 minutes, depending on the duration of the play. In free play, the children could decide what to play, who to play with and where they want to play. The research material consisted of observation forms, an observation diary and videotaped play situations. As a result of the data-based content analysis, seven different types of players were found: presenter, coach, narrator, inventor, treasure hunter, decision-maker and disaffected. As a research result, it can be stated that it is possible to classify player types in children’s free play, but only the coach could be found in both gamification and children’s play. Of the player types, all except the disaffected move the activities forward, and even the disaffected can participate in the play despite their player type. The difference to player types in gamification is that the player type in children’s free play can change many times during an activity, and the player type is clearly influenced by with whom and what you play with. In addition, the actions and choices of others affect the player types of all players. Player types were classified in the thesis by listing characteristics and ways of acting typical of the person, such as gestures, facial expressions and ways of playing. By forming these entities, a classification of player types for children’s free play was achieved. Keywords Play, early childhood education, player types for gamification, player types for free play

Pages 35 pages and appendices 4 pages