I have written recently about the importance of creating rich, inspiring play spaces for children and also about creating invitations to play. I have long believed the way we present resources for can capture their interest and set the stage for longer periods of more meaningful play, and therefore learning.
I am not suggesting as the adult we prescribe the play which must take place, instead it is a matter or engaging the child through creating an interesting play space and then letting them explore with or without your involvement (this will vary depending upon the age of the child, their familiarity with the resources being explored and the amount of support they request).
I recently came across an unschooling term, ‘strewing,’ which I think goes along way towards describing this process.
Strewing involves creating a home environment that is rich and interesting, fun and hands-on, an environment that will spark new interests and connections.
With young children I think creating fun and inviting playscapes is one simple way to achieve this, especially when the play is related to a real life experience or the child’s own interests.
For example, Immy and I have an annual visitor pass for Perth Zoo. Immy loves visiting the zoo, and especially enjoys seeing the African animals, Australian animals, elephants and primates. Each time we visit the zoo, we buy one Schleich animal figurine as a memento of our visit and to add to our collection. Each of the figurines holds an especially dear memory or association for Immy – for example, the polar bear is a reminder of our visit to Singapore Zoo last year, she loves finding kangaroos is the free range style Australian exhibit of our zoo, and meerkats are a current obsession.
The images you see above are of a playscape I set up recently – an environment for the animals. I chose scarves to represent dirt, grass and water and added rocks, trees and ‘logs’ as elements of the environment. On this occasion, I set it up while Immy was napping, at other times we have created these types of play spaces together. It’s been a huge hit, with Immy playing on and off with the animals for days now. She has asked questions about what each animal eats and loves comparing the physical features of each animal (which is why I really like the Schleich brand, for the level of realistic detail).
Other effective ways I have found of ‘strewing’ for young children include;
- Laying out a selection of books related to their interest,
- Gathering posters and pictures from magazines and making a wall display or putting them into a display book to revisit regularly,
- Taking photographs while on related excursions or field trips and printing them out to make a book together,
- Providing creative materials which allow the child to express their ideas and knowledge of the topic,
Basically, putting into their space anything which would further their curiosity and engagement with that they are playing with and learning.
Do you strew?
Christie Burnett is a teacher, presenter, writer and the mother of two. She created Childhood 101 as a place for teachers and parents to access engaging, high quality learning ideas.
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Even just pooping out a basket or two of interesting relevant bits and pieces works as 'strewing'... fab!
Love the Schliech collection too. Had to get new bookshelves in Ellas room to accomodate them and she spends ages playing with them and making zoos and farms and jungles and families
I adore the envrionment for the animals you created here
Go Perth zoo btw! Haven't been for ages so will have to make the effort next time we are up in perth.
http://theadventuresofbear.blogspot.com
Donna :) :)
At home, we strew math manipulatives, animal figures, and art supplies. Sometimes she combines two or more items that I would not have considered combining...like building a house for the animals using the manipulatives and then drawing food and cutting them out for animals to eat. There is no limit to their imagination!
I love the detailed work on Schliech collection. Our daughter has the free booklet which she loves to look through but we have yet to purchase them because they are so expensive.
Vin
Pumpkin - I would start with simple wooden blocks and cars, a small doll, some pop up toys (where your little one has to push or twist a button for an animal to pop up), very simple, chunky piece peg puzzles, balls, and a play phone - hope that gets you started.
I'd love to know where you got your raw wood blocks from in this post - they look wonderful!