Inspiration on how to play

These questions were posed to early years practitioners attending a Knowledge Makes Change seminar convened by the Lambeth Early Action Partnership (LEAP). The event was the first in a series of lectures designed to inspire local practitioners with the latest research and practice developments on issues relating to early childhood development.

The seminar was led by Penny Tassoni, president of PACEY and a UK expert on children’s play. The session aimed to inspire practitioners to refresh their practice.

• Be aware of your own preferences. Penny was quick to point out that, for her, playing board games is play ‘heaven’. However, her enthusiasm could wither if a child wants to repeatedly play with a pull-along toy. When it comes to play, we all have types of play that come more naturally to us, we just need to be aware of them. So it is important to be honest and realise that sometimes supporting children’s play is hard, both for the practitioner and the parent. The good news is that supporting play is a skill, and one that can be learned. It is often easier to maintain and enjoy playing with a child when you understand how the play is supporting their development.
• Child-led or Adult-led? There is a debate amongst practitioners about whether play should be led by the child or shaped by the adult who is present. In fact, there is room for both scenarios. Role-play games, where children rehearse different power dynamics, relationship skills and real-life situations, may be inhibited by the presence of an adult. On the other hand, adults can widen the possibilities of a child’s play by introducing new resources, vocabulary or directions. Adults are there to guide and shape play when required.
• Support parents in creating the best playful experiences. Parents’ own childhood experiences of play are often varied and may not always enable them to relate to their children’s context. For many adults, their early play was defined by being outside, often focused around their local park or playground. These experiences may be at odds with their children, for whom the freedom of play is now often expressed indoors or involving screen time. Practitioners can lead by example, and encourage parents to find new ways to join in with their children’s play.
• Develop your play programme. Given how much time a child can spend in a setting, practitioners should be wary that activities don’t stagnate. The Ofsted early years inspection framework considers this under its ‘intent, implementation and impact’ requirement that early years settings provide early education experiences that ‘over time are consistently and coherently arranged to build cumulatively’. In other words, asking children to make chocolate rice crispies for the third time this month, isn’t making the most of a developmental opportunity.
• Audit the play taking place. It always helps to spend some time observing and considering the types of play that take place in your setting or within the child’s home (if you are visiting a family as part of your role). Look at how a child is spending their time. Ask yourself: what is particularly popular with the children, and is a broad spectrum of different types of play available to them?
• Are creative materials available, what opportunities are there for children to be creative e.g. having junk modelling available, such as kitchen rolls to be made into binoculars for role play. What are the children’s interests and how can they become part of the play?

• Knowledge Makes Change seminar series
• Penny Tassoni is an education consultant, author and trainer who specialises in the whole spectrum of learning and play. She has written a number of books about early childhood play and early years education including 'Children's Play, Learning and Development'
• Ofsted early years inspection handbook
• Julie Fisher 2016, ‘Interaction or Interfering? Improving interactions in the early years.