Play Provocations #5: Play Schemas Part Two

In the second part of our deep dive into play schemas, host Linda Harrison and Educational Leader Rachel Emms explore the final four of the 'Big Eight' patterns of behaviour - orientation, positioning, enveloping, and rotation. 

By understanding these play schemas, educators can transform their physical learning environments into responsive 'third teachers' that cater to a child’s natural urge to wire their brain through repetitive, physical investigations of the world around them. The conversation offers a treasure trove of practical play provocations designed to elevate these schematic interests into deep pedagogical inquiries. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:01

Welcome to Learn Play Thrive the podcast, the ultimate early learning podcast for educators and leaders in the sector. Let's learn, play, and thrive together.

SPEAKER_01 0:11

The Learn Play Thrive podcast was recorded on the lands of the Dark and Jung people. We pay our respects to the traditional custodians, past, present, and emerging. Hands up, hands down, clear and dark and young land.

SPEAKER_02 0:24

Hello and welcome back to Play Provocations. I'm Linda Harrison and I'm so pleased you've joined us for part two of our deep dive into play schemas. We are back with the wonderful Rachel Ms, an educational leader who is helping us bridge the gap between heavy theory and the busy, beautiful reality of an early years classroom.

SPEAKER_04 0:43

Hi Linda, it's great to be back. After our last chat about the trajectory, connecting, transporting, and enclosing schemas, I've actually had a few educators tell me that they've started to look at their rooms through a schematic lens and they're starting to see the why behind the what.

SPEAKER_02 0:59

That's so great. And if you did miss our last episode, we'll give you a quick definition of a play schema, which is a repeatable pattern of behaviour. So it's basically a cognitive set of instructions that young children use to wire their brains and understand the physical laws of the world. And today we are looking at the final four of the big eight play schemas, and they are orientation, positioning, enveloping, and rotation play schemas. So let's dive straight in with the orientation schema. And this is for the child who has a deep interest in seeing things from different angles or heights. So you'll see them climbing to unusual places, hanging upside down from the monkey bars, or perhaps crouching down low to look at a toy side on.

SPEAKER_04 2:12

So it's the very beginning of spatial awareness. In one of the rooms that I'm working with at the moment, the children are exploring light and shadows. So the play provocation that comes to mind when we're talking about the orientation schema is this upside down and underneath experience that we created using a table, and we attached some acrylic mirrors to the underside, and then we draped some fabric over the table to create this dark den. And then underneath, we attached some fairy lights or some uh battery-powered touch lights of different colours to create that dim mood lighting underneath. And then the children were encouraged to use torches to lay under while they were laying underneath the table and explore the light refracting off the different surfaces. So this play experience turns that urge to be upside down into this really interesting investigation of light and shadow and reflection as they explore it through a different perspective.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

Okay, so next let's talk about the positioning schema. And this is where the child might meticulously line up cars in a row or order books by different sizes, or even perhaps obsess over turning every cup in the home corner upside down. So positioning involves the intentional act of placing objects in specific positions or arrangements, and sometimes it can be mistaken for just tidying up, but your children are actually ordering and engaging in sequencing and a bit of symmetry, whether they're stacking blocks, you know, to different heights or they're arranging loose parts in a pattern. Children are building a mental file through these kinds of play schemas for where things go in relation to each other. So I think Rachel, these play schemas is so much more than just a neat line of cars, isn't it?

SPEAKER_04 4:05

A really common play provocation that we see to support this play schema and that interest in lining up cars is creating a small world car park where children have to carefully line up each car into their car space. And another way to support this play schema that I love is using natural materials and creating nature mandalas. So you can set it up using round pieces of felt or wooden bases or even mirrors can be a nice sensory addition to this. But something circular is usually best because it provides that natural boundary and a central point for symmetry. And then we provide a mixture of natural materials and we set them up in an organized segmented tray with multiples of each type of material. So it might be some gum nuts or shells, some flower petals, even autumn leaves. And then this organized layout encourages the children to carefully place each nature piece and create patterns. And this invites the child to really focus on the how and where of each object. So you might start by placing a single large stone in the centre and then see them create patterns outwards spiralling. So placing a leaf, then a nut, then another leaf. And you can be really intentional in how you set this up to encourage that pattern making as well. So this type of place supports early mathematical and literacy skills like spatial awareness and fine motor control.

SPEAKER_02 6:51

And the third play schema we'll chat about today is the enveloping schema. This involves children completely covering themselves or objects. So this is the child who wraps toys in paper, lays fabric on top of dolls, plays peekaboo with silk scarves, or even hides toys in a cupboard. But in this schema, a young child is trying to work out what happens if they wrap or hide an object. They're asking, can I still see it? Can I feel it? What if I wrap it in fabric or paper? Or what if I put it in a cupboard? And is it still there when I open or unwrap it? So it sometimes gets confused with the enclosing schema, but in the enveloping schema is about disappearance. So children are actually investigating object permanence when they engage in this kind of play, which is the idea that something still exists even if you can't see it. And this is why young children love climbing into boxes or wrapping dolls or teddies in blankets, don't they?

SPEAKER_04 7:51

Yeah, and you'll often see toddl spending lots of time wrapping and unwrapping their baby dolls. And while it may be them exploring dramatic role play of their mum caring for their baby sister, they're also testing out that enveloping play schema. So a play provocation idea that I love is providing a variety of different size boxes and a wide array of enveloping materials like scraps of silk, foil, bubble wrap, even some envelopes. And then we can place a bowl of treasures, so might be different shaped and sized textures like shiny stones, buttons for preschoolers, or peg people in a basket nearby. And this play propagation encourages children to wrap the treasures in different fabrics that create a different sensory effect, or they might put them inside a little bit of fabric and then inside an envelope and then inside a bigger box as well. So older children may incorporate this type of play provocation into their dramatic play episodes, and then they're exploring that volume and that physical properties of covering at the same time.

SPEAKER_02 9:00

So our final play schema for the series is the rotation schema. And these are the spin doctors. They are the children who are attracted to spinning, twisting, rolling, or turning. They love things with wheels, spinning in circles until they get dizzy, playing Ring of Rosie, or even using simple tools like screwdrivers. So rotation is about circular motion and the axes, and it's the foundation for understanding gears, pulleys, and the way the world turns.

SPEAKER_04 9:27

And in its simplest form, we can see children exploring this on swings. So in our service, in our infant and toddler playground, we have a low nest swing. And children will spend lots of time spinning themselves or spinning their friends, perhaps placing a baby doll on the swing and watching the baby doll swing round and round. And they're experiencing the rotation themselves, but also watching as others move, or even just the swing itself moves around and around. So another play provocation to support this is a rhythmic movement experience that we like to call whirling rainbows. So we create an open and inviting floor space with a rug and a basket of vibrant, lightweight silk scarves. We can then facilitate the play by introducing music with varying tempos. So starting with something slow and melodic like a waltz and then transitioning into a faster rhythmic beat. We invite the children to hold a scarf in each hand and begin to turn. And as they spin, they can observe how the scarves lift and bloom away from their bodies. It's a beautiful way to feel the axis that Linda mentioned. They become the centre of their own spinning world. And you'll see the children experimenting with speed. As they turn slowly, the scarves will droop down, and then as they spin faster and faster, the scarves will lift back up again. And it creates that visual feedback of what their circular motion is actually doing to the world around them.

SPEAKER_02 10:59

I love that. And I think to wrap up our deep dive, here are some actionable steps for your professional practice. So number one, create some schematic zones. So we can look at our early years classroom layout and ask whether there are dedicated rotation stations with loose parts, like an age-appropriate screwdrivers or spinning tops. Are they included in those spaces? And is there an enveloping nook with scarves and boxes? Number two, the 360-degree perspective. So we can get down on the floor and to support the orientation schema, we need to see what the children see. So if we lie down and look at that perspective, then we can adapt our provocations so that they're not all at adult eye level. And that way we're not missing any opportunities to engage with the young child who might be looking at the world from underneath the table. So as educators, we can get creative with this and set things up from different angles.

SPEAKER_04 11:59

And number three, we can balance natural and synthetic materials. For the positioning schema, provide a variety of textures. How does lining up heavy stones feel compared to light plastic objects? By offering different materials, we can provide opportunities to support a child's sensory development and spatial awareness.

SPEAKER_02 12:20

Thank you, Rachel. You've really helped us see that a child hanging upside down or lining up stones through play is building the blueprint for their cognitive future. Thank you, it's been a pleasure. So thank you for joining us for this series of play provocations. We hope these episodes help you to see the third teacher, the environment, as a partner in the child's schematic journey. Until next time, keep playing, learning, and thriving.

SPEAKER_03 12:47

Thank you for joining us on this episode of Learn Play Thrive the podcast. We hope you found inspiration and valuable insights to fill your journey in early childhood education. Remember the key to fostering learning, promoting play, and empowering young minds lies within your dedication and creativity. If you enjoyed today's episode, please like, subscribe, rate, or review our podcast on your favourite platform. Your feedback helps us to continue to deliver content that resonates with you. And don't forget to visit us at our website at learnplaythrive.com.au for additional resources, blog posts, and professional development opportunities. Until next time, keep learning, keep playing, and keep thriving. We'll see you in the next episode of Learn Playthrive the podcast.