52 pages

English

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Heuristic Play , livre ebook

Andrews UK - Sheila Riddall-Leech

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

52 pages

English

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

How to encourage investigative, discovery play with babies and children aged 0-5. Heuristic Play is a form of exploratory, investigative play that builds a whole range of skills for all children from birth to five. This guide looks at four age groups from birth to five and provides practical activities for setting up heuristic play sessions. Each session comes with expert advice on: - How to set up the session for each age group - The level of adult involvement - How to plan for these activities within the EYFS - How heuristic play relates to schemas of behaviourThis easy to read and practical guide is the only one of its kind and an absolute essential for anyone working in the early years.

Informations

Publié par	Andrews UK
Date de parution	20 septembre 2012
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781907241970
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0574€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Books Heuristic Play

pLà IN THé Éfs

• Activities for all age ranges in the early years • Observation and assessment suggestions • Links to the EYFS, schemas and child development

Sheila Riddall-Leech

Books

Heuristic Play

Contents

Play in the EYFS

What is heuristic play?

The role of the adult

The theory of heuristic play

General links to the EYFS and schemas

Heuristic play for non-mobile babies

Heuristic play for mobile babies and toddlers

Heuristic play for young children 22 to 36 months

Heuristic play for young children 36 to 60 months

Observation templates

Glossary of terms

Further references

Published by Practical Pre-School Books , A Division of MA Education Ltd, St Jude’s Church, Dulwich Road, Herne Hill, London, SE24 0PB Tel 020 7738 5454 www.practicalpreschoolbooks.com © Practical Pre-School Books, A Division of MA Education Ltd 2009

Front cover photos taken by Sheila Riddall-Leech © MA Education Ltd 2009 Back cover photo taken by Rebecca Linssen © MA Education Ltd 2009 Illustrated by Cathy Hughes

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Play in the EYFS: Heuristic Play ISBN: 978-1-90457-592-4

What is Heuristic Play?

Play can and does, take many forms. It changes as we grow and develop. In the îrst instance play enables us to learn about things and objects in our environment, then later through play, we learn about people, thirdly play makes it possible for us to learn about ourselves. Whether play is alone or in groups, messy, noisy and energetic or quiet, all children beneît from it. Play can be a solitary or social experience, we can be fully involved or just watch and observe, but whatever form it takes it is of immense value and fundamental to learning.

It is widely accepted that play is the primary way that babies and young children develop and learn. Learning is about being able to do something by oneself, such as reaching out and grasping an object, writing your name, understanding the dierence between hard and soft, fastening a button. This is often referred to as ‘learning through îrst-hand experiences’. When babies and children learn through play they feel free to experiment, are in control of their own learning and înd ways of managing situations, both real and imaginary. Learning through play is fundamental to all areas of a child’s development.

Think about it

Think about your own learning experiences at school. What learning can you remember that was really eective and why do you think this was? Can you think of any learning experiences that you had that were not successful for you and can you think why this might be? For example, someone can tell you how to drive a car, and you can read up on the subject and look on the internet, but unless you actually get behind the wheel of a car and drive, you will not be successful. Learning to drive requires îrst hand experiences.

Heuristic play is a very simple approach to helping babies and young children learn. The approach uses natural and household objects presented to babies and children so that they can experiment and discover independently. The term ‘heuristic play’ is often confused with ‘holistic play’ but the two terms are quite dierent. Holistic play is when you plan for and meet the needs of the whole child; as in holistic therapies which aim to treat the whole person rather than just the symptoms. For example taking an aspirin may temporarily cure a stress headache, but a holistic treatment would treat the cause, that is to say deal with the stress. The word ‘heuristic’ originates from the Greek ‘eurisko’ which means ‘I discover’ or ‘I înd’. You may recall the ancient story of Archimedes who leapt out of his bath shouting ‘Eureka’ as he discovered that his body caused the water level to rise. ‘Eureka’ simply means ‘I have discovered’, or ‘I understand’.

Heuristic play is an approach for practitioners to follow. It is not a prescription or instruction, in short it is unrestricted and totally child-led. Heuristic play uses natural, recycled household objects that can be found in the home and in the environment. Babies and young children who are engaged in heuristic play explore, înd out, investigate and discover for themselves, without active adult intervention. Heuristic play allows babies and

young children to make choices and develop preferences and experience play opportunities that are both spontaneous and focussed. The guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage tells us that ‘when children have opportunities to play with ideas in dierent situations with a variety of resources, they discover connections and come to new and better understandings and ways of doing things’ (Principles Into Practice Card 4.3- Creativity and Critical Thinking). Heuristic play is one such very eective play opportunity if planned and resourced appropriately.

Heuristic play is open-ended, items and objects can be used and played with in any imaginative way that the child chooses and so there is no ‘wrong’ or ‘right’ way to play. Heuristic play can be totally individual as babies and young children react and respond in their own unique and distinctive ways. Children with special needs can engage successfully in heuristic play as it stimulates their senses and is open-ended, rather than prescriptive. What it is not is an opportunity for the adult to sit back and let the children get on with it. As with any play opportunity it needs careful planning, consideration of health and safety issues and appropriate resources.

Think about it

In a way heuristic play continues throughout our lives as we discover and make sense of new things in our physical world. What do you do when faced with a vegetable or a fruit that you have not seen or even tasted before? You probably touch it with your îngers, turn it over in your hands and feel its texture, you smell it, maybe shake it and listen if it rattles or makes another noise, and you look at it carefully and perhaps taste it. Isn’t this heuristic play? It is learning about the fruit from your own îrst-hand experiences. In fact, any form of scientiîc enquiry could be described simply as heuristic play.

Some people also think that heuristic play and treasure baskets are the same thing, when in fact treasure baskets are only one aspect of heuristic play. Treasure baskets amongst other aspects will be discussed in more detail in the next chapter.

The role of the adult

The role of the adult in heuristic play is to provide a range of objects, natural, household and recycled that are safe, hygienic and clean. The adult needs to choose objects that will stimulate interest, exploration and discovery. You will need to set out the objects and make sure that anything used in the play session is safe, not broken or worn out. The adult should be quiet and preferably seated throughout the play session. You need to sensitively observe the children and babies, making a note and listening to their play and be aware of the signs that children have had enough or are losing interest. The end of the session should be unhurried and time should be given for the children to be involved in clearing away the items supported by the adults using simple language and gestures. You will also need to consider:

llll

When is the best time to set up a heuristic play session, How long you can allow it to continue, Where in your setting it can be used and, How often you arrange heuristic play sessions.

All of these points will be covered in greater detail in later chapters.

When oering a treasure basket to a non-mobile baby the adult should be aware that this aspect of heuristic play is a non-social activity in which you will not take part, other than to oer reassurance, smiles and positive body language. Treasure basket play, whilst apparently very simple, oers babies signiîcant and deep experiences, such as making choices, and having control over what they are doing independently. If you become involved and oer a baby a speciîc object, the play changes as the baby is no longer in control and making their own independent choices.

Case Study

Abbie, aged 8 months, was presented with a treasure basket for the îrst time. She immediately set about exploring the objects using all of her senses. The adults in the room at the time had not experienced treasure basket play before and began to oer Abbie dierent objects and say things such as, ‘Abbie look at this brush.’ Abbie, stopped her independent investigations and took what an adult was oering; but it didn’t hold her interest and she soon rejected it for something else. The adults were asked to leave Abbie to explore on her own and they soon began to realise that it was not necessary for them to oer objects and that Abbie was engaged in meaningful play.