Digital tools, artefacts and resources for teaching and learning have created new learning contexts as digitalisation continues (Arnold & Yelland, 2020; Otterborn et al., 2023). As a result, there is a growing interest in technology-enabled artefacts being used in science teaching to stimulate young children’s science learning. With their inherent technological functions, digital tools create opportunities and constraints for different actions in learning contexts in relation to children’s learning of science content. Slowmation, a slow animation consisting of five cumulative representations (Background, Storyboard, Models, Digital photographs and Animation), allows children to repeatedly represent science content based on their experiences (Hoban & Nielsen, 2010). The design of Slowmation promotes ‘shared sustained interactions’ between teachers and children, encouraging reflection about significant concepts and ideas throughout the process of creating a Slowmation (Fleer & Hoban, 2012).  Previous research on Slowmation has focused on how it enhances learning about science content for learners in various pedagogical contexts (Fridberg et al., 2018; Nielsen & Hoban, 2015; Hoban & Nielsen, 2010) or how it is used to support the learning of science content (Fleer & Hoban 2012). More research is needed on how digital tools enable or constrain children’s learning of science content based on teachers’ intended and implemented teaching with a focus on planning, teaching and reflecting.

The study presented here is based on teachers’ reflections on their intended and enacted teaching of science content using the digital tool Slowmation. The study explores how teachers' experiences of using Slowmation for teaching and learning science content in preschool education. It is guided by the following research question ‘What are the opportunities and constraints of using Slowmation for teaching and learning science in preschool?’

The research involved four preschool teachers in a Swedish preschool who had previously worked with children on the science content dinosaurs and bees together using Slowmation. Initially, the teachers articulated their intended planning and reflection on the construction of Slowmations, through a reflection tool called Content Representations (CoRe) (Loughran et al., 2004).

Data were generated through the reflection tools, audio recordings during the completion of the reflection tools, and stimulated recall interviews. Preliminary findings from the thematic analysis show that the teachers experience opportunities and constraints when using Slowmations. For example, according to the teachers, the children have many repeated opportunities to encounter the science content through the Slowmations. Furthermore, the teachers have to prepare the children about what an animation is. This research is of interest to Nordic educational research as digital tools are a part of the learning context in preschool. The findings of the study can provide knowledge about how Slowmations can support science teaching and learning based on the teachers’ intended and enacted experiences.