The role of the adult in play
Play is, without doubt, the foundation of everything we do – both in the Early Years and beyond. It should be at the centre of our culture and ethos, holding great value as a vehicle for supported learning and development. Not just that, but play is fun!
With a positive impact on the well-being of children, not to mention adults, we should be offering extended periods of uninterrupted time dedicated to exploring through play.
Play enables children to become fully absorbed in the moment, with the freedom to express themselves and unleash their creativity. Through play, children become confident, curious and independent learners.
When we think about play, it’s important to consider our role as adults in facilitating the environment - paying particular attention to modelling and scaffolding.
Our initial role is to get to know our children; we need to understand what motivates them, the way they learn and their overall interests. From this, we can set up an inspiring environment in which children are stimulated and excited about engaging in play.
Observing children in this environment will allow for periods of reflection and an understanding of which resources are being used the most (and least) and why certain areas are more popular than others.
We’ll also start to see the development of each child’s personality, including their emerging communication, language and social skills, and an ever-growing understanding of the world.
From these observations, we can begin to audit the environment and make the most of our provision. Although we are the ones setting up an environment, it needs to correspond to their interests and needs. It’s of great importance to remember that this is their space, not ours!
An environment that promotes play will look different for every setting and vary with each cohort. As a loose guide, it should be safe, clean, light and airy. There should be space for children to freely move around, as well as little nooks to retreat into.
Every area in your provision – both indoors and outdoors - will facilitate different types of play. To ensure a good provision you will require open-ended resources, enabling children to develop their creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Resources should be appropriate for children’s developmental stages, also taking schemas into account. Being able to set up a play environment that benefits children the most is a definite skill and one which comes with knowledge and experience.
Adults working with children need to understand and appreciate the value of the adult in children’s play. There are times when we need to step back and enable children to fully control their play without adult interference.
In these uninterrupted periods, we can observe deep and purposeful learning through play. Children are fully absorbed in sharing ideas, following instructions and thinking critically.
Although uninterrupted play holds the greatest value, there may be times where it is appropriate for us to join in. This, however, can be achieved sensitively, without the need to take over.
Play should always be child-led, for otherwise, we end up imposing our own ideas and risk losing its core value. Adults should avoid posing questions and instead engage in shared thinking, evaluating and learning.
The impact of the adult on play can be hugely positive - that’s if we get it right. Should we interrupt play at the wrong moment children may lose interest and the whole experience is shut down.
We also want children to perceive the adult more as a play partner. In order to fulfil this role, we can look out for many cues. Children may use gestures such as offering a toy or making eye contact to indicate they’d like us to join in.
Through this approach, the adult’s invitation to get involved is always child-led, enabling us to scaffold and model the play. For example, if we are invited into an ice cream role-play scenario, we can introduce language around money and flavours but in a fun and playful way.
Joining in play can be achieved without asking questions. Instead, we can choose the right moments to make comments and join in the narrative - just remember not to take over!
The take-home message is that play is an incredibly complex part of our role in the Early Years, but one that shouldn’t put us off. Our main role is to provide a positive environment where children can experience awe, wonder and diversity in a fun way.
To build these skills we can take responsibility for our own professional development. Look out for books, blogs and courses that help practitioners better understand their role, as both an observer and facilitator in play.
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All furniture shown in the images is part of the Millhouse Early Years range - available to buy through KCS. Email earlyyears@kcs.co.uk for enquiries.