INVITATIONS to Play Explore - Tykes 'n Tots Preschool ... · An invitation to wash toys can be a great way to entice kids to play. It doesnt just have to be small figures either (animals,

INVITATIONS to

Play Explore

Racheous – Lovable Learning

Copyright © 2013 Rachel Brown | Racheous – Lovable Learning

All Rights Reserved No part of this e-book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means (including information storage and retrieval systems) without permission in writing from the author. This book is presented for informational and entertainment purposes only. The author does not assume any responsibility for inaccuracies or omissions. This information is offered as a guide and inspirational resource. As a parent, you know your child/ren best. Safety is the first concern when working with young children. Parents are responsible for their children's safe use of all materials. Do not allow your child to use materials if he or she has not developed the skills required to do so safely. Do not let your child use any material independently or alone unless you are certain he can do so safely.

Play provocations, also known as invitations to play, are simply set ups of toys, play materials, loose parts and art materials; organised to provoke creativity and open-ended play. Often, these invitations to play are suitable for several age groups, so they lend themselves to some lovely cooperative play as well. The magic of it is watching your child discover the opportunity and watch their inspiration unfold as they play with the activity in any number of ways.

Introduction What are provocations?

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I think the key things that made a difference for us were: 1. I stopped viewing myself as The Entertainer. You don’t have

to play alongside your child/ren all the time.

2. Similar to above, I let my kids be bored. Boredom is good! Kids need to learn how to entertain themselves.

3. I started encouraging lots of time for free play and observing what interests each child. What are they drawn to? What are they struggling with? What keeps their attention? How can I incorporate their interests into learning and play?

4. I let myself see that my time and needs are important – so that they could too. If I stop what I’m doing for every interruption, what message does that send my kids about the worth of what I’m doing? Of course, there are times that interruptions are necessary but I had to realise that being entirely child-centered wasn’t helpful for any of us.

5. I gave them the freedom to struggle and make mistakes. This may seem obvious to many, but when Cameron was a baby and toddler, I subconsciously made myself responsible for his happiness and success. I would swoop in if he was getting frustrated with a toy and would correct him. This led to him seeking my guidance more often than needed and I thankfully recognised the issue in time to turn it around.

How can you encourage independence?

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Small World Play: Creating an invitation to play with a small world set up is simple: you’re most likely doing it without thinking. Simply add the things that your child is interested In at the time (people, animals, transport, etc) with some related loose parts (nature, props, fabrics, gems, mirrors, blocks, etc) in an enticing way.

“I think the best indication of how engaging an

activity will be is whether it makes you want to

play and create.”

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Beach Play Tray: This beach play tray was a quick, simple calming activity I threw together for Lucy while Cam slept in. When he woke up he joined in. It took up a couple of hours of our morning! She explored the textures of the various shells, starfish, sand dollars and sea urchin. Her favourite thing was to put sand and little shells inside the sea urchin and shake shake shake!

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Light, Shadow and Reflection Invitations: Creating an invitation to play with various transparent manipulatives on an overhead projector. You can sometimes get OHPs for free from local schools as they upgrade to newer technology. Some provoking questions to ask are: How do the sizes of the materials change on the projector? Why are some objects brighter than others? Why are some items that are colourful not colourful on the projected image? How do the objects change when placed on the light? Are their many shades of colour? Why? Can you change the colour of an object by placing another object on top? Why? Give your child a torch to shine and create shadow sculptures and explore how reflection works. Collect reflective and transparent objects and hang them in front of a blank wall or build in structures on a table next to a wall. Your child can enjoy shining the torch on a disco ball and making it reflect off all the walls. I used the sculptures behind him to show my son how translucent objects can cast coloured shadows and how moving the torch further/closer and side to side affects the shadow.

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Mirror Self Portraits: Set up a mirror and your favourite glass/tub markers (we love Micador, but for non-Australians, Crayola have good window crayons) and prompted this activity by pointing out that Cameron could look at his reflection and copy his facial features with the markers. Without any further prompting, my preschooler observed his reflection and drew himself, taking care to pick blue for his eyes and yellow for his hair. He kept checking in the mirror and added ears after realising he had missed them. For a toddler, this activity was free form and still very much enjoyable for her. She played with her reflection and scribbled away. She pointed out the planes that she saw in the mirror and spent some time observing Cameron, as usual.

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Nature on the light table: We collected some flowers and leaves from our garden and pressed them in our flower press. A week later the kids were excited to see how flat they were and to help me put them through the laminator. They are fun for on the light table and for general exploring.

An invitation to wash toys can be a great way to entice kids to play. It doesn’t just have to be small figures either (animals, trains, cars, dolls) and can be baby dolls, and outdoor toys (cars, bikes, scooters, dump trucks)

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Safe nature exploration When my littlies still mouthed objects, I still wanted them to be able to explore small interesting items. The only way I could was to have some items available in containers. Here I used magnetic spice containers on a whiteboard with a variety of natural objects to explore.

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Threading Invitation: This DIY activity was a huge hit with both Cameron (almost 4 years old) and Lucy (19 months). Given that it was made with everyday household items like plasticine (which I prefer to dough purely because it doesn’t dry out!) with dry spaghetti, pasta, twigs, beads and small rings, it is so cheap and simple.

Loose Parts Play Outdoors: This is a very adaptable invitation to explore and play. Set up inviting loose parts, mirrors, some sand and let their creativity take over! For a toddler, it’s all about exploration. For a preschooler the imaginative play ideas are endless.

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Exploring numeracy and literacy with light: My two love open-ended exploration of letters on the light table. We also extend it with letter recognition games. Using transparent dice and counters in corresponding colours to the die (6 of each, for control of error) and Cameron rolled the dice and put the correct amount of counters in the clear container.

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Hammer and balance: This is a favorite that requires a lot of concentration and enhances fine motor skills. Simply display some golf tees, balls/marbles, a hammer, tongs and plasticine. Your child can poke, squeeze, hammer, tap, pinch, and explore balance.

Simple sensory bins: Bins with kitchen items and sensory items to weigh, pour, measure, stir and play with are a very effective way to entertain a toddler and encourage independent play. Some ideas for a sensory tub include: rice, oats, corn, seeds, flour, rocks, water beads, gems, salt and sand.

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Invitation to explore numeracy: As someone who has never been mathematically minded, I love the idea of exploring numeracy and measurement on a more visual scale. Numeracy for young children is about order, patterns, comparisons, and measurement. Processes like counting, comparing, sorting and estimating help children learn about the world around them. These open-ended materials really help children to make math tangible and less abstract as they learn the complex concepts. You don’t need a lot of fancy materials. For example, I put a simple set of kitchen scales in the block area and it sparked some open-ended hands on learning about weight. Cameron is really interested in measurement (of weight, volume, length) at the moment. At almost four, he still isn’t yet at the stage of understanding units of measurement. However, he loves to explore ‘what is heavy’ and making things ‘fuller’, and using a tape measure to see how long something is.

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Story Stones: All I did to create these story stones was buy a bag of pebbles from the garden section of Bunnings and drew simple pictures on them. I varnished them with a clear, non-toxic spray, let them dry and they were ready for creative fun!

The best thing about making them yourself is that you can personalise them to your child’s interests. The possibilities are endless. Try to include:

•People I made these generalised so that they are adaptable, although I included a baby. You could, however, make them themed – i.e. royalty, characters they like, different professions, etc.

•Animals Based on what your children are drawn to – pets, sea animals, wild life, animals native to your country, farm animals, etc.

•Transportation Try to include the modes of transportation that your child points out often – i.e. car, taxi, bus, plane, rocket, boat, truck, ute, construction vehicles, fire truck, ambulance, etc.

•Events All the exciting things (birthday, party, storm, fire) as well as the everyday events (day, night, mealtime, a clock, cleaning, baking, playing)

•Places Some ideas are: city, beach, park, bedroom, home, building that can be anything from a hospital to a museum.

•Emotions Draw faces depicting happiness, sadness, shock, anger, etc.

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Sensory Foam Dough: No cooking required and two cheap ingredients! Sold! All you have to do is mix roughly equal parts of corn flour (corn starch) and shaving foam. It is a really fun sensory experience that can inspire all kinds of pretend baking play.

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Create Plasticine People: Set up a simple invitation to create and play with plasticine (fimo or similar), craft match sticks, googly eyes and other loose parts and tools. I love plasticine because it doesn’t dry out and the littlies can play with their creations and add a whole new dimension to the experience.

THANK YOU! for supporting & reading Racheous

I hope you enjoyed this ebook and found something new and inspiring for the children in your life. I would love to hear your feedback. Any queries can be sent to [email protected]

Racheous – Lovable Learning

Rachel is an Australian wife and mum of two. She is passionate about early childhood education. Prior to motherhood she was a nanny and dabbled in study. Rachel is a miscarriage survivor and perinatal mood disorder battler.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Racheous is a space where I share snippets of our life and learning. I draw inspiration from the Montessori method and Reggio Emilia approach. I also love aspects of Waldorf living and project-based learning. You will find that most of what we do is open-ended, play-based and child-centred. I believe strongly in respectful parenting and learning. Although I don’t like to label things & believe there is no one-size-fits-all to parenting/children/learning; instinctively I have been drawn to elements of attachment & natural parenting. I am a supporter of breastfeeding & breast-milk, we co-sleep, baby-wear and practice gentle discipline.