Leaning in to Schematic Play in the Adventure Primes
There are a variety of different lenses that teachers use when we are observing and reflecting on the children's play. Each perspective can help us filter what we are seeing and provides a different layer of information to inform our decisions and responses to the children's needs.
One such lens is the theory of play schemas.
A schema is a mental model created through a process of trial and error. Schema play refers to patterns of repeated behaviors that help children solidify their fundamental understanding of the world. Play schemas have to do with action, and help children create mental models of movement in three-dimensional space. Some common schemas include transporting (moving objects from one place to another), positioning (lining up and arranging objects in specific ways), trajectory (throwing or dropping objects), and connection (putting objects together and taking them apart).
Engaging in schematic play is a natural developmental urge that builds pathways in a child's brain. All children engage in schematic play, beginning from about 6 months old, and it is an important part of their cognitive development. For example, the scattering schema involves emptying, spilling, tipping, and dumping. As children repeat these actions, they begin to develop a schema around the concept of quantity. Objects appear different when they are piled up or scattered, but while their appearance changes, the quantity stays the same. Ten magna tiles in a basket look different than when those same ten magna tiles are spilled out across the floor, even though the number of tiles did not change.
One common schema is the "transforming schema," in which children are fascinated by actions that change the form or appearance of objects (such as tearing, cutting, and breaking apart). This schema can often conflict with our adult agendas and ideas about how materials should be used. Playdough is an excellent resource to have on hand to support this schema, and is always available in our classroom. In recent weeks we've also added some new play invitations to support this schema in productive ways.
First, we introduced a set of wooden nutcrackers. These nutcrackers use a screw to crush nuts, and are much easier to use than traditional nutcrackers that rely on forceful compression. The forest floor is littered with a carpet of acorns this time of year, and the children have been excited to crush acorns and remove the "meat" of the nut inside. We bring the nutcrackers to our woods spot each day, and they are also available during our afternoon porch time.
Another natural material in abundance this time of year is dry leaves. We created what we are calling a "snipping station" with a bin of leaves and a variety of scissors.
Along with mastering these fundamental concepts about the world, supporting children's schematic play offers a cascade of other benefits. When engaging in the activities mentioned above, for example, Adventure Primes are strengthening their wrists and fingers and developing the fine motor control that supports artistic endeavors like drawing and painting, and self-help tasks like working with buttons, zippers, and shoelaces. It may be hard to imagine how cracking acorns relates to literacy development, but without the appropriate amount of fine motor development in early childhood, eventually learning to write is an unnecessarily tedious, painful, and frustrating process.
Another benefit we see is the opportunity to slow down and closely observe objects found in nature, and to gain new insights into familiar objects. Acorns look similar, but upon closer inspection, there are so many ways in which they are different-- some have pointed ends and stripes, some are covered in a fine white film, some have caps attached, some are cap-less, some are quite large and oblong, some look almost triangular. Leaves have commonalities like veins and stems, but come in so many shapes and sizes, colors and patterns.
There are also opportunities to experience surprise and curiosity. For example, when the children are crushing acorns, often the meat inside is firm, and a uniform shade of tan. Children begin to expect this as they break apart more acorns. Then, suddenly, the inside of another acorn will not look as expected. Maybe it is dark brown or black, maybe it is mushy, maybe they discover a small grub inside. This leads the children to ask questions such as Why does this acorn look different inside? What is this creature inside? How did it get there?
When children first began experimenting with cutting leaves at the snipping station, they were surprised and delighted to discover that each time they cut into the stem of a leaf, the small section did not simply fall when disconnected from the rest of the stem-- instead, it flies out to the side (often quite a distance). This led to more questions and investigation: Do the sections of thicker stems fly further when you cut them? Which kinds of leaves have the farthest flying stems? Why don't the sections of leaves between the veins move in the same way when you cut them?
