Welcome to your September newsletter

Welcome to the monthly newsletter for tickit Play Professionals.

Every month, we share ideas, experiences and practical tips on a particular topic. This month, we’re exploring the role of play in early childhood development.

Thanks for being here. Happy reading!

In this month's newsletter

• Shaping a child’s ability to learn
• Pressure to hit developmental milestones
• Play - an essential building block for learning and development
• Community Voices
• Thank you for reading

Shaping a child’s ability to learn

Shaping a child’s ability to learn

Child development is a journey of growth and discovery. Physical, cognitive, social-emotional, and language development are all interlinked, so as one area develops it can create an opportunity for growth in another.

In a child's early years, the brain is changing and developing rapidly, laying the foundations for the future. Key connections for important skills, such as problem-solving, empathy and self-control, are forming and shaping a child’s ability to learn. Helping to build and strengthen these pathways encourages healthy brain development and, in turn, helps nurture learning.

Of course, children are individuals, and each child learns and grows differently. Although the sequence of development is pretty consistent, the pace may be different. In an early years setting, that means children require different levels of support to meet their individual needs and encourage their development.

Helping every child become an independent little learner means providing lots of opportunities to develop across multiple areas, build their confidence, spark their curiosity and encourage them to explore the world around them.

Pressure to hit developmental milestones

Pressure to hit developmental milestones

With pressure to make sure children reach specific milestones, it can be easy to control the way in which children learn and play. But stepping back, observing children at play and following their lead can be hugely valuable - for them, and for practitioners.

Of course, there are important developmental skills to support. Recognising letters helps build the foundations for reading, and recognising numbers supports early mathematical understanding. Activities that use the body's large muscles/gross motor skills, and small muscles/fine motor skills, are also important for developing coordination, strength and concentration.

Play-based learning can support these areas naturally, and can connect areas of learning. For example, creating symmetrical butterfly images outdoors can combine mathematics with exploring nature; and designing mandala patterns can bring together art and geometry.

When children are engaged in their play and enjoying themselves, they are often more relaxed and receptive to learning. And when learning is associated with joy and curiosity rather than anxiety or pressure, children are better placed to engage, explore and learn.

Play - an essential building block for learning and development

Play - an essential building block for learning and development

A rich play environment gives children opportunities to explore, experiment and develop new skills through experiences that engage their natural curiosity.

We know that play and exploration are important ways that young children learn and develop. So, it makes sense for early years environments to encourage exploration and discovery, cater to the diverse needs of children, and provide different ways to engage with learning. This can be achieved by including activities that:

• Provide sensory experiences
• Offer hands-on learning
• Support emotional regulation and social skills
• Develop cognitive skills, creativity, and problem-solving
• Encourage choice and independent exploration

Allowing learning to feel like play can create a light bulb moment for children. Those who struggle with mathematical concepts or problem-solving on paper, may grasp the idea when they can physically handle and move resources. It’s about making learning meaningful and logical.

For example, a child might find it difficult to understand symmetry. But place a colourful crystal block against a mirror and the magic of reflection becomes crystal clear. They’re not just learning about symmetry, they’re experiencing it, creating it, and discovering the beauty of colourful patterns and reflections. Suddenly, an abstract concept has become something they can see and understand.

Open-ended play offers many benefits, especially the opportunity for children to become independent thinkers, follow their curiosity and learn at their own pace.

Community Voices

Community Voices

Every edition we share ideas, experiences, insights and practical tips from members of our Play Professionals Community. This month, we're chatting to Alice Sharp, an early childhood expert, award-winning educator (teacher and then senior lecturer in early years), and author, who shares her thoughts and ideas around the developmental possibilities in play.

What conditions help development emerge naturally through play?

We all know that developmental milestones aren't boxes to tick. Or at least, they shouldn't be. They’re useful. They give us a broad frame for understanding how children are growing, communicating, moving, thinking, relating and becoming increasingly capable. But there’s a danger when the milestone becomes the destination.

We start looking at a three-year-old and thinking, “Can they do this yet?”

We design an activity because we think children need to practise a particular skill. A fine-motor activity. A language activity. A maths activity. A creative activity. And somehow, without noticing, we’ve divided the child into compartments. But children don't develop in compartments. Their wee brains are much more capable than that.

A child building a den is using their whole body, negotiating, developing language, solving problems, estimating, imagining, remembering, adapting and creating. One piece of play can contain an extraordinary amount of development.

Create a world that keeps saying, “I wonder…”

Children don't need an endless supply of adult-designed activities. They need things worth noticing.

A mysterious footprint. A basket of feathers. A box with no obvious purpose. A puddle that needs moving. A message written in an unfamiliar script.

These are invitations. They create that wonderful little itch in the brain: What's that? Why is it there? What could we do with it? I wonder what would happen if…?

Curiosity isn’t an extra. It’s one of the engines of development.

What’s the reason for the child to communicate?

We talk endlessly about developing communication, but sometimes forget to ask a rather obvious question: “What’s the reason to communicate?”

If I already know a child knows the colour of the object, why am I asking them what colour it is?

Children don't need us constantly checking what they know. They need reasons to use what they know.

A den needs explaining. A café needs customers. A parcel needs delivering. A map needs interpreting. Suddenly language has a job to do, and words become part of the experience. This is where we can introduce rich vocabulary naturally. We don't just see a bird; we notice a robin, gull or chaffinch. We don't simply say something is wet; we might talk about dripping, soaking, slippery or muddy.

Give children problems worth solving

I watch adults sometimes ask children questions that the children know perfectly well the adults already know the answers to! You can almost see the child's expression: Really? We're doing this again?

What if we gave them better problems? How can we make the tower stronger? How could we get all the animals across the river?

These aren't challenges with one predetermined answer. They’re genuine problems. The adult doesn't need to be the person with the solution the adult can become the fellow investigator. “Hmm. I'm not sure. What could we try?”

That little sentence tells children that their ideas matter and creates space for experimentation.

Make the environment slightly inconvenient

We have become very good at making environments efficient, accessible and ready. But children sometimes need a little productive inconvenience.

Give them three pieces of string when they need four. Put interesting objects somewhere that requires some thought to reach them. Give them something awkward to carry. Not to frustrate them, but to create reasons to think.

Development happens in the moment when a child encounters: “Oh. That didn't work.”

And then has to decide what to do next.

Be bold, leave things unfinished. A den without a roof. A machine with a missing part. A collection that needs organising. Children are fabulously good at picking up unfinished business. We’re so accustomed to helping, showing, explaining and questioning. Sometimes the most responsive intervention is a raised eyebrow, a curious look and: “I wonder…”

Our job is to remember our HOW. How will we engage? When will we step in? When will we step back? When will we provoke, model, introduce a word, offer a possibility and when will we simply watch?

The best developmental opportunities are often hiding in plain sight. Inside the puddle. Inside the cardboard box. Inside the argument over the den. Inside the child's slightly ridiculous idea that might, with a little time and freedom, turn out to be just brilliant.

Step back and see the developmental possibilities

Our job is to become better at seeing the extraordinary developmental possibilities already hiding inside ordinary play and then, just occasionally, have the courage to step back and let the child take it somewhere we never imagined.