Pub Date : 2026-01-12DOI: 10.1016/j.ijcci.2026.100803
Yusra Niaz, Eva Durall Gazulla, Marianne Kinnula
‘Relationality’ is increasingly used in human-computer interaction as a lens to support knowledge building and design practice by shifting the attention to inclusion, collaboration, and interconnection as key qualities while studying humans and technology. This scoping literature review analysing 61 studies seeks to understand how academic literature in fields relevant to child-computer interaction has employed the relational lens during the last decade to explore how children engage with the world in formal and non-formal learning contexts. Following PRISMA guidelines, we identify the ontological, epistemological, and ethical implications of adopting a relational perspective in research and practice involving children. We outline main relational practices used in the studies and propose strategies for child–computer interaction researchers to integrate and expand the use of the relational lens in their work particularly within learning contexts, while also extending to broader domains connected to child–computer interaction.
{"title":"A relational turn for child-computer interaction research? A scoping review","authors":"Yusra Niaz, Eva Durall Gazulla, Marianne Kinnula","doi":"10.1016/j.ijcci.2026.100803","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijcci.2026.100803","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>‘Relationality’ is increasingly used in human-computer interaction as a lens to support knowledge building and design practice by shifting the attention to inclusion, collaboration, and interconnection as key qualities while studying humans and technology. This scoping literature review analysing 61 studies seeks to understand how academic literature in fields relevant to child-computer interaction has employed the relational lens during the last decade to explore how children engage with the world in formal and non-formal learning contexts. Following PRISMA guidelines, we identify the ontological, epistemological, and ethical implications of adopting a relational perspective in research and practice involving children. We outline main relational practices used in the studies and propose strategies for child–computer interaction researchers to integrate and expand the use of the relational lens in their work particularly within learning contexts, while also extending to broader domains connected to child–computer interaction.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38431,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction","volume":"47 ","pages":"Article 100803"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146076804","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-08DOI: 10.1016/j.ijcci.2026.100804
Nicholas O’Donnell , Madison Klarkowski , Janelle MacKenzie , Ella Horton , Sumudu Mallawaarachchi , Steven J. Howard , Daniel Johnson
Deceptive design patterns — i.e., user interface tactics that serve to manipulate users into making decisions that benefit a company — are endemic to playful digital experiences. Children have been identified as particularly vulnerable to these tactics, owing to their ongoing cognitive development and nascent critical reasoning. In this paper, we employ a media content analysis — utilising Grey et al. (2024) hierarchical and universal ontology — to assess the prevalence and presentation of deceptive design patterns in playful apps aimed at young children (aged 5–8 years). Our results show that free apps rely more heavily on deceptive design patterns than paid apps, and that the high-level categorisation of patterns employed most frequently include Interface Interference, Sneaking, and Forced Action. Exploring how these patterns are deployed (including how they manifest at the meso- and low-levels), we identify the ramifications for child users and their caregivers. We propose potential solutions that can be enacted by caregivers, suggest improvements that can be made to digital storefronts, and submit suggested foci for regulatory bodies. Building on existing research, this work contributes a vital step towards characterising the climate of deceptive design patterns in playful apps explicitly targeting young children.
{"title":"From playful to manipulative: Exposing deceptive patterns in digital applications for young children","authors":"Nicholas O’Donnell , Madison Klarkowski , Janelle MacKenzie , Ella Horton , Sumudu Mallawaarachchi , Steven J. Howard , Daniel Johnson","doi":"10.1016/j.ijcci.2026.100804","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijcci.2026.100804","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Deceptive design patterns — i.e., user interface tactics that serve to manipulate users into making decisions that benefit a company — are endemic to playful digital experiences. Children have been identified as particularly vulnerable to these tactics, owing to their ongoing cognitive development and nascent critical reasoning. In this paper, we employ a media content analysis — utilising Grey et al. (2024) hierarchical and universal ontology — to assess the prevalence and presentation of deceptive design patterns in playful apps aimed at young children (aged 5–8 years). Our results show that free apps rely more heavily on deceptive design patterns than paid apps, and that the high-level categorisation of patterns employed most frequently include <em>Interface Interference</em>, <em>Sneaking</em>, and <em>Forced Action</em>. Exploring how these patterns are deployed (including how they manifest at the meso- and low-levels), we identify the ramifications for child users and their caregivers. We propose potential solutions that can be enacted by caregivers, suggest improvements that can be made to digital storefronts, and submit suggested foci for regulatory bodies. Building on existing research, this work contributes a vital step towards characterising the climate of deceptive design patterns in playful apps explicitly targeting young children.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38431,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction","volume":"47 ","pages":"Article 100804"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146037411","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-31DOI: 10.1016/j.ijcci.2025.100801
Priyanka Parekh
This paper investigates how identity and learning intertwine during making activities by analyzing the experiences of two ten-year-olds in a circuitry-making workshop at a public library makerspace. Makerspaces are increasingly recognized as sites where learners develop technical skills in making as well as negotiate identities as capable participants in STEM-rich practices. Using the theoretical framework of figured worlds, this paper examines how children simultaneously constructed circuits and positioned themselves in relation to peers, materials, and ideas. Qualitative analysis of their verbal and physical interactions revealed two key findings. First, both children engaged actively with tools, ideas, and collaboration while successfully producing working circuits. Second, their identity work diverged: one expressed confidence and agency, while the other grappled with self-doubt despite demonstrating comparable technical competence. This contrast illustrates that identifying as a successful maker may be more challenging than learning circuitry skills. By highlighting how identity negotiation shapes children’s experiences in library makerspaces, this paper extends research on maker education. The findings suggest that mentoring, recognition, and the cultivation of inclusive maker mindsets are as critical as access to resources, underscoring the importance of supporting both technical learning and identity development in STEM-rich informal learning environments.
{"title":"Children exploring circuits and identities in the figured world of a makerspace","authors":"Priyanka Parekh","doi":"10.1016/j.ijcci.2025.100801","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijcci.2025.100801","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates how identity and learning intertwine during making activities by analyzing the experiences of two ten-year-olds in a circuitry-making workshop at a public library makerspace. Makerspaces are increasingly recognized as sites where learners develop technical skills in making as well as negotiate identities as capable participants in STEM-rich practices. Using the theoretical framework of figured worlds, this paper examines how children simultaneously constructed circuits and positioned themselves in relation to peers, materials, and ideas. Qualitative analysis of their verbal and physical interactions revealed two key findings. First, both children engaged actively with tools, ideas, and collaboration while successfully producing working circuits. Second, their identity work diverged: one expressed confidence and agency, while the other grappled with self-doubt despite demonstrating comparable technical competence. This contrast illustrates that identifying as a successful maker may be more challenging than learning circuitry skills. By highlighting how identity negotiation shapes children’s experiences in library makerspaces, this paper extends research on maker education. The findings suggest that mentoring, recognition, and the cultivation of inclusive maker mindsets are as critical as access to resources, underscoring the importance of supporting both technical learning and identity development in STEM-rich informal learning environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38431,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction","volume":"47 ","pages":"Article 100801"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145976789","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-30DOI: 10.1016/j.ijcci.2025.100802
Kyrill Potapov, Malak Ramadan
Energy systems increasingly require active citizen participation, yet youth voices remain marginalized in energy technology design. This paper reports on participatory design studies with 21 teenagers (ages 12–14) from economically disadvantaged areas of London, exploring how youth conceptualize community energy sharing. Using participatory design, we conducted workshops across two secondary schools involving scenario-based design, persona development, and low-fidelity prototyping around solar energy sharing scenarios. Students designed eco-feedback applications featuring priority systems based on social circumstances, negotiation tools, and community profiles emphasizing social relationships over individual optimization. Our findings reveal teenagers’ energy citizenship perspectives that challenge adult-centric approaches by prioritizing care, social justice, and interdependence over efficiency metrics. Students demonstrated sophisticated understanding of energy justice, designing transparent processes for democratic energy allocation and viewing technology as mediating community communication rather than algorithmic authority. This work contributes methodological approaches for youth participatory design in sustainability contexts and demonstrates how engaging young people reveals alternative visions for just energy transitions.
{"title":"Participatory design of an eco-feedback tool with teens for community energy futures","authors":"Kyrill Potapov, Malak Ramadan","doi":"10.1016/j.ijcci.2025.100802","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijcci.2025.100802","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Energy systems increasingly require active citizen participation, yet youth voices remain marginalized in energy technology design. This paper reports on participatory design studies with 21 teenagers (ages 12–14) from economically disadvantaged areas of London, exploring how youth conceptualize community energy sharing. Using participatory design, we conducted workshops across two secondary schools involving scenario-based design, persona development, and low-fidelity prototyping around solar energy sharing scenarios. Students designed eco-feedback applications featuring priority systems based on social circumstances, negotiation tools, and community profiles emphasizing social relationships over individual optimization. Our findings reveal teenagers’ energy citizenship perspectives that challenge adult-centric approaches by prioritizing care, social justice, and interdependence over efficiency metrics. Students demonstrated sophisticated understanding of energy justice, designing transparent processes for democratic energy allocation and viewing technology as mediating community communication rather than algorithmic authority. This work contributes methodological approaches for youth participatory design in sustainability contexts and demonstrates how engaging young people reveals alternative visions for just energy transitions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38431,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction","volume":"47 ","pages":"Article 100802"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145925065","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-05DOI: 10.1016/j.ijcci.2025.100798
Andrew Manches , Minna Nygren , Sara Price
A core goal of Child-Computer Interaction (CCI) researchers is to improve the lives of children by translating research into practice. Yet, despite efforts to enhance translation, evidence of success remains limited. This paper addresses calls for strategic efforts to improve research-practice translation in the field by presenting the Translational Research Engagement Framework. The framework draws on existing work regarding research-practice partnerships to propose three levels of translational engagement, ranging in depth and scale of impact: Collaborator (practice partners involved in the research), Pre-Motivated Audiences (non-academics with vested interest in engaging with academic events such as workshops and conferences), and Vehicles of Communication (outputs with intrinsic value to practitioners that can be scaled beyond projects). The framework is illustrated by the translational activities, challenges and implications of a five-year international researcher-practitioner partnership project exploring the role of embodied learning in informal science learning contexts. The paper concludes with discussion of some tensions to be navigated in efforts to translate CCI research to practice, and how the framework offers a tool to plan translational activities before, during and importantly, after projects, to scale benefits to more children.
{"title":"Increasing the impact of child-computer interaction research: The Translational Research Engagement Framework (TREF)","authors":"Andrew Manches , Minna Nygren , Sara Price","doi":"10.1016/j.ijcci.2025.100798","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijcci.2025.100798","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A core goal of Child-Computer Interaction (CCI) researchers is to improve the lives of children by translating research into practice. Yet, despite efforts to enhance translation, evidence of success remains limited. This paper addresses calls for strategic efforts to improve research-practice translation in the field by presenting the Translational Research Engagement Framework. The framework draws on existing work regarding research-practice partnerships to propose three levels of translational engagement, ranging in depth and scale of impact: <em>Collaborator</em> (practice partners involved in the research), <em>Pre-Motivated Audiences</em> (non-academics with vested interest in engaging with academic events such as workshops and conferences), and <em>Vehicles of Communication</em> (outputs with intrinsic value to practitioners that can be scaled beyond projects). The framework is illustrated by the translational activities, challenges and implications of a five-year international researcher-practitioner partnership project exploring the role of embodied learning in informal science learning contexts. The paper concludes with discussion of some tensions to be navigated in efforts to translate CCI research to practice, and how the framework offers a tool to plan translational activities before, during and importantly, after projects, to scale benefits to more children.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38431,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction","volume":"47 ","pages":"Article 100798"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145839891","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.ijcci.2025.100772
Eva Eriksson , Ole Sejer Iversen , Marie-Monique Schaper , Gökçe Elif Baykal , Greg Walsh , Juan Pablo Hourcade , Janet Read
Child–computer Interaction (CCI) is an established research field with its own conference and journal for disseminating results and community engagement. However, there are voices calling for the field to mature (e.g. Torgersson, Bekker, Barendregt, Eriksson, and Frauenberger (2019)). One way to address that is to discuss the ever evolving CCI curriculum in order to discover what efforts are made for engaging a new generation of researchers in the field. This special issue seeks to gather informative and inspirational perspectives on teaching CCI in order to engage the next generation of researchers in the field. Our hope is that this special issue will not only serve as knowledge sharing within the community, but also inspire more people to start teaching CCI and thereby open up for engaging the next generation of researchers.
{"title":"Engaging the next generation of Child–Computer Interaction researchers: Teaching CCI","authors":"Eva Eriksson , Ole Sejer Iversen , Marie-Monique Schaper , Gökçe Elif Baykal , Greg Walsh , Juan Pablo Hourcade , Janet Read","doi":"10.1016/j.ijcci.2025.100772","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijcci.2025.100772","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Child–computer Interaction (CCI) is an established research field with its own conference and journal for disseminating results and community engagement. However, there are voices calling for the field to mature (e.g. <span><span>Torgersson, Bekker, Barendregt, Eriksson, and Frauenberger (2019)</span></span>). One way to address that is to discuss the ever evolving CCI curriculum in order to discover what efforts are made for engaging a new generation of researchers in the field. This special issue seeks to gather informative and inspirational perspectives on teaching CCI in order to engage the next generation of researchers in the field. Our hope is that this special issue will not only serve as knowledge sharing within the community, but also inspire more people to start teaching CCI and thereby open up for engaging the next generation of researchers.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38431,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction","volume":"46 ","pages":"Article 100772"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145747077","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.ijcci.2025.100784
Elin A. Björling , Kung Jin Lee , Jin Ha Lee , Ruican Zhong , Sean Roth , Juan Rubio
{"title":"Corrigendum to “Designing for Teen Mental Health: An exploration of the co-design of virtual reality in the public library setting” [International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction 42 (2024) 1–12 100693]","authors":"Elin A. Björling , Kung Jin Lee , Jin Ha Lee , Ruican Zhong , Sean Roth , Juan Rubio","doi":"10.1016/j.ijcci.2025.100784","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijcci.2025.100784","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":38431,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction","volume":"46 ","pages":"Article 100784"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145747078","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Despite the extensive literature on emotional expression recognition, few studies have focused on children. Current research has only reliably linked six prototypical emotions to specific combinations of ‘action units’ (AUs). The objective of this study is to assess whether thirteen emotional expressions automatically detected in three-to-five-year-old pupils during play correlated with an observer's perception of those emotions in context. We conducted a literature review of the expressions associated with AU combinations, extending beyond the basic emotions. Using a dataset of videos of spontaneous play by young children, we then conducted an exploratory study to test these sequences. The study provides a guide for the future analysis of automatic emotional facial expression recognition, a tool that could be groundbreaking for studying emotional behavior in children. However, this AI-based solution still contains certain biases, making it essential to enrich machine-learning results with human observations to ensure acceptable data quality. Since human behavior is context-related, only humans can interpret the activity in context, while machines are uniquely suited for a frame-level coding. Mutual learning between humans and machines can generate a co-evolutionary process, leading to progress in multidisciplinary research with children.
{"title":"Facial expression recognition and the perceived emotions of three-to-five-year-old children while playing with apps","authors":"Lucrezia Crescenzi-Lanna , Cristina Palmero , Sergio Escalera , Eloi Puertas","doi":"10.1016/j.ijcci.2025.100790","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijcci.2025.100790","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Despite the extensive literature on emotional expression recognition, few studies have focused on children. Current research has only reliably linked six prototypical emotions to specific combinations of ‘action units’ (AUs). The objective of this study is to assess whether thirteen emotional expressions automatically detected in three-to-five-year-old pupils during play correlated with an observer's perception of those emotions in context. We conducted a literature review of the expressions associated with AU combinations, extending beyond the basic emotions. Using a dataset of videos of spontaneous play by young children, we then conducted an exploratory study to test these sequences. The study provides a guide for the future analysis of automatic emotional facial expression recognition, a tool that could be groundbreaking for studying emotional behavior in children. However, this AI-based solution still contains certain biases, making it essential to enrich machine-learning results with human observations to ensure acceptable data quality. Since human behavior is context-related, only humans can interpret the activity in context, while machines are uniquely suited for a frame-level coding. Mutual learning between humans and machines can generate a co-evolutionary process, leading to progress in multidisciplinary research with children.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38431,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction","volume":"47 ","pages":"Article 100790"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145595029","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-08DOI: 10.1016/j.ijcci.2025.100789
Anna Sjödahl , Andreas Eckert
Visual programming has become a popular way to provide young students with the opportunity to engage in complex problem-solving, often referred to as computational thinking. Most frameworks for computational thinking are comprehensive yet lack a fine-grained perspective on young students' engagement in programming. Therefore, this paper aims to unpack young students’ enacted problem-solving as they engage in open-ended programming in a visual programming environment (VPE). Through the lens of abstracting and decomposing, we contribute with a close-up understanding of how young students tackle complex problems in a VPE. Data generated in a Swedish first-grade classroom consisted of screen recordings and plans from 13 student pairs, working during four lessons to produce animated stories in ScratchJr. Through the analysis, six enactment patterns were constructed, showing that students as young as seven to eight years old can solve problems involving multiple components, arranging them into cohesive solutions. There were major differences in the problem-solving process involving whether or not the students followed their plans, captured in plan-driven and in-the-moment enactment patterns. Plan-driven enactment patterns elicited shifts within abstracting and decomposing practices, which we consider essential for programming since such enactment patterns more often elicit complex problem-solving. The results suggest that young students should be encouraged to use plans extensively when working in a VPE.
{"title":"Young students’ enactment patterns in visual programming – 'plan-driven' or 'in-the-moment'","authors":"Anna Sjödahl , Andreas Eckert","doi":"10.1016/j.ijcci.2025.100789","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijcci.2025.100789","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Visual programming has become a popular way to provide young students with the opportunity to engage in complex problem-solving, often referred to as computational thinking. Most frameworks for computational thinking are comprehensive yet lack a fine-grained perspective on young students' engagement in programming. Therefore, this paper aims to unpack young students’ enacted problem-solving as they engage in open-ended programming in a visual programming environment (VPE). Through the lens of abstracting and decomposing, we contribute with a close-up understanding of how young students tackle complex problems in a VPE. Data generated in a Swedish first-grade classroom consisted of screen recordings and plans from 13 student pairs, working during four lessons to produce animated stories in ScratchJr. Through the analysis, six enactment patterns were constructed, showing that students as young as seven to eight years old can solve problems involving multiple components, arranging them into cohesive solutions. There were major differences in the problem-solving process involving whether or not the students followed their plans, captured in plan-driven and in-the-moment enactment patterns. Plan-driven enactment patterns elicited shifts within abstracting and decomposing practices, which we consider essential for programming since such enactment patterns more often elicit complex problem-solving. The results suggest that young students should be encouraged to use plans extensively when working in a VPE.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38431,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction","volume":"46 ","pages":"Article 100789"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145525599","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-07DOI: 10.1016/j.ijcci.2025.100788
Nomisha Kurian
To build AI that children can intuitively understand and benefit from, designers need a design grammar that truly serves their developmental needs. This paper bridges Artificial Intelligence design for children - an emerging field still defining its best practices - and children's animation, a well-established field with decades of experience in engaging children through accessible and engaging storytelling. Pairing Piagetian developmental theory with design pattern extraction from 52 works of children's animation, the paper presents a “six scaffold” framework that integrates design insights transferable to child-centred AI design: (1) signals for visual animacy and clarity, (2) sound for musical and auditory scaffolding, (3) synchrony in audiovisual cues 4) sidekick-style personas (5) storyplay that supports symbolic play and imaginative exploration, and (6) structure in the form of predictable narratives. These strategies - long refined in children's animation - function as multimodal scaffolds for attention, understanding, and emotional attunement, supporting children's learning and emotional comfort. This structured design grammar is transferable to AI design. By reframing cinematic storytelling and child development theory as design logic for AI, the paper offers heuristics for crafting intuitive AI that aligns with children's cognitive stages and emotional needs. The work contributes to design theory by showing how sensory, affective and narrative techniques can inform developmentally-attuned AI design. Future directions include empirical testing, cultural adaptation, and participatory co-design.
{"title":"Once upon an AI: Six scaffolds for child-AI interaction design, inspired by Disney","authors":"Nomisha Kurian","doi":"10.1016/j.ijcci.2025.100788","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijcci.2025.100788","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To build AI that children can intuitively understand and benefit from, designers need a design grammar that truly serves their developmental needs. This paper bridges Artificial Intelligence design for children - an emerging field still defining its best practices - and children's animation, a well-established field with decades of experience in engaging children through accessible and engaging storytelling. Pairing Piagetian developmental theory with design pattern extraction from 52 works of children's animation, the paper presents a “six scaffold” framework that integrates design insights transferable to child-centred AI design: <strong>(1) <em>signals</em> for visual animacy and clarity, (2) <em>sound</em> for musical and auditory scaffolding, (3) <em>synchrony</em> in audiovisual cues 4) <em>sidekick</em>-style personas (5) <em>storyplay</em> that</strong> supports <strong>symbolic play and imaginative exploration,</strong> and <strong>(6) <em>structure</em> in the form of predictable narratives</strong>. These strategies - long refined in children's animation - function as multimodal scaffolds for attention, understanding, and emotional attunement, supporting children's learning and emotional comfort. This structured design grammar is transferable to AI design. By reframing cinematic storytelling and child development theory as design logic for AI, the paper offers heuristics for crafting intuitive AI that aligns with children's cognitive stages and emotional needs. The work contributes to design theory by showing how sensory, affective and narrative techniques can inform developmentally-attuned AI design. Future directions include empirical testing, cultural adaptation, and participatory co-design.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":38431,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction","volume":"46 ","pages":"Article 100788"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-11-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145525710","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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