Join us in Legerup – because play and community are the foundation for children to thrive at school

Each year, around 65,000 children in Denmark start "Year 0"/reception class, but even before their first day, the focus often shifts to learning objectives and routines. In the final months of preschool, children are typically prepared for a new daily life governed by different rules and habits.

Helle Marie Skovbjerg, Professor of Play at Kolding School of Design, along with a research team from the LAB for Play Design and two schools in Esbjerg Municipality, is working to make the transition from preschool to school more child-friendly and playful. The children are heading to Legerup!

- There’s been a general tendency to ‘schoolify’ children’s lives earlier and earlier – meaning the focus has been on making them school-ready. We’re turning that around. Children should no longer be made ready for school – the school should be made ready for play. Legerup is for all children transitioning from preschool to school. It’s free to live in Legerup – all it takes is imagination and a desire to play. Legerup is a fictional name we’ve given to this transition phase, to emphasise that it should be full of play, says Helle Marie Skovbjerg.

School start on children’s terms
Legerup is designed to ensure that children's needs come first during the school transition – not outdated ideas of what school should be. That’s why Helle Marie Skovbjerg and the rest of the research team are encouraging schools to incorporate more play into this phase.

- Play is, first and foremost, a way children relate to the world. But it’s also a space where they learn social rules. Children feel they belong, that their ideas matter, and that they’re part of something bigger. When they’re allowed to bring play into the classroom, it gives them a sense of safety – and that makes school a place they want to be, continues Helle Marie Skovbjerg.

- We know that some children struggle when they start school. They don’t have a friend and aren’t sure what to do. The more we can help them feel included and find friendships, the better foundation they’ll have for learning. In that sense, we’re strengthening the conditions for a good school life.

Magical elixirs and playful experiments in Esbjerg
Two schools in Esbjerg are leading the way in rethinking this important life transition. Starting on 12 May, children and adults alike will play their way through magical portals, drink secret elixirs, and explore imaginative worlds. The goal is to build friendships and a sense of safety through playful environments. Class schedules have been cleared to make room for play.

Vittenberg School in Esbjerg Municipality is proud to be part of the initiative:

- Being part of Legerup gives us the chance to see and experience the children in new ways. Every child has something unique to offer, and Legerup helps us recognise the different areas where each individual child shines, says Headteacher Pernille Fast.

To embrace the spirit of Legerup, Vittenberg School has – for the first time – chosen not to form fixed classes for pre-schoolers. Instead, the children remain in one large group until the summer holidays, allowing the teachers to get to know them better before forming the final classes.

The Legerup research project is built on close collaboration with the teachers and educators who work with the children every day. This enables the team to strike a careful balance between giving children freedom and ensuring curriculum goals are met.

Facts
Legerup belongs to the children. Adults are welcome – but only if they behave.

Legerup is a research project about play in the transition from preschool to school. Together with educators and children at two schools, the team explores how play influences – and can influence – the start of school life. The project began in July 2024 and is currently set to run until December 2027.

Legerup is supported by Independent Research Fund Denmark with a grant of 5.7 million DKK.

The project is a collaboration between Design School Kolding, UC SYD, Danish School of Education (Aarhus University), Esbjerg Municipality, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, and Monash University, Australia.