Touch as a resource when initiating joint activities in children's peer interactions.

This article investigates how preschool children aged 1 to 5 in Swedish early childhood educational settings use touch as a multimodal resource to initiate, sustain, and manage joint peer activities. Through a video-ethnographic study analyzing 12 hours of recordings from two public preschools, the research identifies three main ways children employ touch: to secure peers' attention and bodily orientation for joint participation, to create and maintain participation frameworks within multi-activity contexts, and to engage peers into ongoing activities. The findings highlight that touch serves both communicative and sensorial functions, enabling children—especially those aged 3 to 5—to navigate complex social interactions, coordinate multiple concurrent engagements, and embody peer relational work as part of their socialization and play cultures. The study underscores the importance of recognizing embodied practices, including touch, in supporting children's participation and social bonding in multiparty educational environments.