Identifying schema’s in children’s play

When children are playing they will often show particular schemas, they may also show one particular schema stronger than the other. It is practitioners jobs to be aware of schemas and note when children are displaying these in their play.  Schema’s demonstrate the understanding in which children behave. With regards to the planning process it is important that practitioners match EYFS material with children’s interests.

Children whose play is particularly schematic may have particular preferences in the setting for activities and resources:

Types of schema’s                                    Child’s preferences

• Connection      –    Resources that require children to join things together such as train track, string, sellotape,
• Enveloping      –    Making dens, wrapping items up, putting things in envelopes, climbing through cardboard boxes
• Rotation           –    Playing with spinning tops, playing with resources that have wheels.
• Trajectory        –    Throwing games, balls games, playing with running water
• Transporting   –    Putting items in small bags or baskets, trailers, dolly’s pushchairs

The following activities show how each activity can help promote the different types of schemas

Cooking

• Connection – Sequence in recipes
• Enveloping and enclosure-Putting things away, make picnic food sandwiches.
• Rotation-Stirring and mixing ingredients, polling out pastry
• Transporting- Shopping for ingredients, taking things out of the cupboard or fridge

Wet sand

• Connection – different size pipes and tunnels, making sandcastles, fillings things
• Enveloping and enclosure-Burying items under the sand
• Transporting- Buckets and trucks and moving the sand from area of sand pit to the other using the trucks
• Trajectory-Digging in the sand

Role play

• Connection – Filling handbags, moving and arranging furniture including cushions.
• Enveloping and enclosure-Dressing dolls, putting blankets over take to make a den
• Transporting- Playing being a post man, pulling toys on a string.

Outdoor play

• Connection – Making up games, Gardening, Parachute games Obstacle courses Hose pipes
• Enveloping and enclosure-Burying things, Hiding in or under Tents, dens, Hide and seek Parachutes Playing in cardboard boxes
• Rotation-Skipping, Hoops, Rolling tyres down hill Wheeled toys
• Transporting- Trucks for collecting and carrying Road games Suitcases, pushchairs, trailers on back of bikes.
• Trajectory-Watering – pipes, Flags, nets Running, throwing and aiming games Balls, bats, skittles