GROW ‑Integrated health education in preschool

The GROW project explores how preschool children express and embody health through drawings and storytelling. Central caring science concepts such as vitality and life rhythm provide tools for understanding children’s well-being from a holistic perspective. The aim is to highlight children’s own voices and generate knowledge about how health can be understood and supported in everyday preschool settings.

The project has been developed through close collaboration between researchers at Mid Sweden University and preschool teachers. It is firmly anchored in practice and in the preschool curriculum, where children’s participation, right to influence, and health promotion are central commitments.

The pedagogical design is based on creative and multimodal methods. For the research, this provides a unique empirical foundation that shows how young children articulate and embody their sense of well-being.

Thus, the project is both research-driven and practice-oriented, with the potential to contribute to preschool development, didactic renewal, and a deepened understanding of children’s perspectives on health. The results may also guide how health promotion can be integrated into everyday preschool life in ways that strengthen children’s rights in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

As a student at Mid Sweden University, you will have the opportunity to participate in this ongoing research project. Depending on your interest, you can focus on different themes or explore the pedagogical dimension, examining how these approaches can strengthen children’s participation in issues concerning their health and well-being.

The project is well suited for independent theses at the bachelor’s, master’s, and postgraduate levels. As a student, you become part of an active research collaboration between university and preschool, contributing to knowledge development that may have a direct impact on children’s lives and health-promoting work in preschools.