Play with Purpose

Have you ever wondered why young children repeat behaviours over and over? 

Why young children…

• want you to read that book again and again? 
• love the act of filling and dumping, filling and dumping?  
• throwing things that aren’t safe to throw, even after being asked not to?
• why, just as you are resetting an environment, they are pulling it apart? 

How many of these repeated behaviours frustrate you?

Understanding that repeated behaviours in children’s play are critical to brain development enables you to look at children’s play and behaviour differently. 

What might seem like challenging behaviour at first could, in fact, be brainwork and behaviour that we want to nurture, support, and extend. 

Children will play out their schemas regardless of the possible ‘consequences’, so how can you better incorporate opportunities for this play within your curriculum? 

You can better extend children's learning and thinking by offering children experiences that match their underpinning schema. 

Learning:

A. New ways of playing, thinking, observing, catering for and responding to children and their ‘behaviour’ through a play schema lens

B. Environmental design that supports play schemas

C. The benefit of Loose parts 

Completing Play with Purpose may contribute one-hour of PD that aligns with the NESA (NSW) approved criteria and addresses:

The Australian Professionals Standards for Teachers: APST 4: Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments

Early Years Learning Framework Learning Outcomes: Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators

The National Quality Standard: QA 5: Relationships with children