Abstract for: Kindergarten Applications of Systems Thinking in Turkey from 2014 to 2020

Main purpose of the activities is to increase the systems thinking capacity of kindergarten children. We want to share our experiences about using systems thinking tools in kindergarten level accumulated from 2014 to 2020 and give some implementation examples. There are claims from leading figures of the field that children are natural system thinkers or have a potential to be. Recent studies seems to confirm the latter: Children are not systems thinkers by themselves but have a potential to become systems thinkers. We see system dynamics as the foundation under systems thinking. So we use simplified versions of system dynamics tools. Observation reports and first-hand personal experiences indicates that most of the kindergarten children can draw, understand and explain simple behaviour over time graphs, stock-flow and causal loop diagrams. Assuming ability to use systems thinking tools is a good indicator for development of systems thinking capacity, our observations confirm that, children have a potential to become systems thinkers and capacity development can be done using systems thinking tools. These subjective observations should be seen as precursors of verifications with rigorous studies using scientific methods. We also want share our plans for scientific studies and seek for possible collaborations.