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This study investigates the current situation regarding singing in Norwegian kindergartens. More specifically, how often kindergartens offer singing possibilities to children, in what situations singing is embedded, how valued singing is in such institutions, what singing methods and repertoires the teachers use, and whether teachers have certain underlying goals and beliefs connected to their use of singing. Furthermore, we are interested in whether there are contextual factors that influence the singing practice of a kindergarten/teacher. This exploratory cross-sectional study uses a web-based questionnaire, and the sample consists of 660 Norwegian kindergarten teachers. The statistical analyses cover standard descriptive and inferential statistics. The study’s main findings are as follows: (1) singing is highly valued in most kindergartens; (2) singing is done “very often” in most kindergartens, and the majority of teachers report that they sing with the children daily in a large variety of situations and using mainly Norwegian songs – however, the actual frequency and amount of singing depends on various factors; (3) one of the most important factors regarding singing praxis is musical expertise of teachers, regarding which most teachers rate themselves as below the population average; (4) the teachers mainly sing unaccompanied with the children; (5) they learn new songs mainly through streaming services; and (6) the teachers assume that singing leads to especially positive psychological, social, and cognitive effects on children.

Artikkelen tar for seg barnehagebarns møter med tre musikkrelaterte applikasjoner på nettbrett: Air Harp, Bloom og Singing Fingers. Seks grupper med 4-6 barn i alderen 5-6 år har deltatt i studien, og teksten bygger på observasjoner av barnas møter med appene. Forfatternes hensikt er å bidra med kunnskap om hva musikkrelaterte apper kan tilby barnehagebarn av musikalske oppdagelser og skapende utforskning. Funnene tyder på at det ligger muligheter i appene som inspirerer til musikalsk utforsking og lek, der barnas musiske væremåter får handlingsrom. Sentrale begreper i studien er affordanse, musikkens grunnelementer og barns musiske uttrykksmåter. The article is about children in early childhood education exploring three applications with musical content on tablets: Air Harp, Bloom and Singing Fingers. Six groups of 4-6 children aged 5-6 years participated in the study, and the text is based on observations of the children and how they met challenges and explored the features of the tablet and apps. The authors intend to develop knowledge about these apps and their possibilities to offer musical exploration for children in early childhood education. Findings suggest that there is potential in the apps that inspires children to creative musical exploration and play. Central concepts in the study are affordance, musical parameters and children's musical expressions.

Selv om sang er en vesentlig del av barnehagehverdagen, finnes det lite forskning på hva som faktisk synges. For å få et innblikk i dette, har vi med hjelp av deltidsstudenter på Høgskolen i Oslo og Akershus gjort et innsamlingsarbeid som kartlegger hva de voksne synger for og med barna i vårt distrikt. Datamaterialet viser tydelig at sangrepertoaret i barnehagene er svært ensartet. Repertoaret består av mange sanger, men det eksisterer helt klart et felles kjernemateriale. Dette materialet har vi valgt å kalle en barnehagesangkanon. Sangene her er eldre og musikalsk lite varierte. I denne artikkelen søker vi å forstå hvorfor sangmaterialet er så gammelt og hvorfor det er så lite fornyelse av sang i barnehagene. Vi har sett at det kan gi mening å se sangrepertoaret i lys av folkemusikkbegrepet hvor tradering, bruksmusikk og kontinuitet står sentralt. Although singing is an essential part of everyday life in kindergartens, there is little research on what is actually sung. The authors have investigated the kindergarten song repertoire over a period of six years. The data material collected clearly shows that the song repertoire is old and quite uniform. It consists of a large number of songs, but there is a limited common core material: a “kindergarten song canon”, consisting almost exclusively of old song material with little musical variety. In this article, we seek to understand why this song material is so old and why there is so little renewal of the kindergarten song repertoire.