Activity-tracking assemblages in Finnish early childhood education and care

Abstract

Children’s activity-trackers have recently gained popularity to ensure sufficient exercise for children attending Finnish Early Childhood Education and Care settings. Device manufacturers collaborate with public and private providers and supply children with bracelets that measure activity. We interviewed staff who used trackers during 2021, and approach these technologies as assemblages where devices are entangled with discourses, rules and practices. Three events show how assemblages produced children as active/inactive; gaming the algorithm, and educators seeking to use the devices pedagogically.