Playful Pathways to Computational Thinking, Maker Literacies, and STEAM in Early Childhood

Dear Colleagues,

Play is the foundation of early learning, offering rich opportunities for problem-solving, creativity, and exploration. Through tinkering, storytelling, making, and digital or unplugged coding, young children naturally engage in computational thinking (CT)—developing skills such as sequencing, pattern recognition, and debugging. As children experiment with materials, tools, and ideas, they also build maker literacies and shape their identities as creative and capable learners.

This Special Issue explores how play-based, hands-on, and inquiry-driven learning experiences foster computational fluency in early childhood. We seek research that highlights innovative, culturally responsive approaches to integrating computational thinking into early childhood education, particularly in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM)-rich environments where children are encouraged to explore, iterate, and express their ideas through making.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Play-based and hands-on approaches to computer science (CS) and computational thinking (CT) in early childhood.
• Maker literacies and their role in shaping learner identity.
• Tinkering, making, and digital or unplugged coding experiences in early learning settings as levers in educational.
• The role of robotics, interactive media, and storytelling in developing CT skills.
• STEAM-based learning environments and pedagogies that foster agency, creativity, and problem-solving.
• Curiosity-driven learning and child-led exploration in STEAM education.
• Culturally responsive and inclusive approaches to computational thinking for diverse learners.
• Designing learning environments, approaches, or tools to engage girls and other historically excluded groups in STEM/STEAM from an early age.

We encourage contributions from researchers, educators, and practitioners working at the intersection of early childhood education, computational thinking, and STEAM learning.

Manuscripts should be submitted by 15th July 2026. As scholars with expertise in this field, we invite you to contribute to this Special Issue of Education Sciences, and any article processing fees will be waived should your article be selected for publication. For further inquiries, please contact amanda.strawhacker@ssdsboston.org and asullivan@ngcproject.org.

We look forward to your submissions.

Dr. Amanda L. Strawhacker
Dr. Amanda A. Sullivan
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• STEM
• STEAM
• computational thinking
• computer science
• early childhood
• play
• playful learning