The Learning Environment and Play

A Well Designed Environment

-Many opportunities for children to play (as suggested by Comenius) -Child-sized furniture and accessible and orderly shelves (as recommended by Montessori) -Inviting hands-on materials like parquetry blocks and paper with scissors (based on the gifts and occupations of Froebel) -Daily opportunities for play outdoors with mud, sand, and water (as prescribed by Margaret & Rachel McMillan) -Unit blocks (designed by C. Pratt) -Natural play materials (as described by Steiner) -Environments filled with light and beauty

Associate Play

(3-4 Years)When a child starts to interact with others during play, but there is not a large amount of interaction at this stage. A child might be doing an activity related to the kids around him, but might not actually be interacting with another child. For example, kids might all be playing on the same piece of playground equipment but all doing different things like climbing, swinging, etc.

Cooperative Play

(4+ years)When a child plays together with others and has interest in both the activity and other children involved in playing they are participating in cooperative play.

solidarity play

(Birth-2 Years) This is the stage when a child plays alone. They are not interested in playing with others quite yet.

Space

-All young children need a clearly defined "home" space for their group or class. -They also need an outdoor play area with access to nature and space for activity play that can be used year-round. -35 square feet usable space per child indoors is needed -75 square feet of outside play space for each child playing outside at any one time is needed (AAP, APHA, & NRC, 2002) -There is also a need to provide access for individuals who use walkers or wheelchairs

How many stages of social play are there?

6 stages stages of social play: -Unoccupied behavior -Solitary play (infants) -Onlooker behavior -Parallel Play (toddlers) -Associative play (3-4) -Cooperative or organized supplementary play (4-6+)

Principles for arranging space

Arrange the environment for safety and health. -In a program for infants/toddlers, adults must be able to see all of the children, all of the time. -In a program for preschoolers, a preschooler may be safely playing in one area while you work with other children a few feet away, supervising all the children by sight and sound. While standing, you should be able to see the whole preschool room or yard and all the children and easy to supervise throughout the day.

functional play

Birth-2 Play begins at birth with what is called sensorimotor activity or ___ play. While infants are fairly limited in motor skills initially, they begin exploring, inspecting, and learning through physical activity. They move from innate actions to purposeful actions such as flexing, extending, reaching, and grasping.

Unoccupied behavior/play

Birth-3 months At this stage baby is just making a lot of movements with their arms, legs, hands, feet, etc. They are learning about and discovering how their body moves.

Organize the environment in areas (Areas=zones=centers)

Olds (2001) suggest thinking of a classroom for young children as having 2 regions: a wet region and a dry region. -infant/toddlers need care or routine areas in which to be changed and washed, to sleep, to eat, and to play. -preschoolers and kindergartners need areas for books, blocks, manipulative toys, sensory experiences, inquiry activities, art, writing, dramatic play, and vigorous physical play.

Outdoor Learning Environment

Outdoor space and equipment should support a range of developmental goals: physical, social, cognitive, and creative

Piaget's theory of play

Piaget believed that play both reflects and is the medium through which children develop cognitively (Reifel & Sutterby, 2009).

Piaget's and Smilansky's cognitive stages of play

Practice play (functional play): Birth to 2 Symbolic Play: 2-7 Construction Play: 2 to 3 Dramatic Play 3 to 7 Games with rules: 7 and plus

Temporal Environments

The term __ environment refers to the timing, sequence, and length of routines and activities that take place throughout the school day. It includes the schedule of activities such as arrival, play time, meal time, rest time, both small- and large-group activities, and the many transitions that hold them all together. Predictable schedules and routines create a sense of security, help young children to learn about their world, helping them to adjust to new situations, and prevent challenging behaviors. Daily routines also help young children to say good-bye to parents and to feel safe and secure within a nurturing network of caregivers. For example, establishing the routine of reading a book together every day in the same cozy corner of the room can help a child to prepare for the difficult separation from her parents.

Physical Environment

The term ___ environment refers to the overall design and layout of a given classroom and its learning centers. Teachers should design the environment by organizing its spaces, furnishings, and materials to maximize the learning opportunities and the engagement of every child. To effectively do so, teachers can apply a concept known as Universal Design for Learning (UDL), which stresses that the environment and its materials in it should be accessible to everyone. Creating this accessibility might involve providing books at different reading levels, placing materials within easy reach on a shelf, or creating ample space so that a child who uses a wheelchair can maneuver around the classroom

Social Environment

The term ___ environment refers to the way that a classroom environment influences or supports the interactions that occur among young children, teachers, and family members. A well-designed social environment helps foster positive peer relationships, creates positive interactions between adults and children, and provides opportunities for adults to support children to achieve their social goals. To create a classroom environment that supports positive social interactions, teachers need to plan activities that take the following aspects into consideration.

How many interdependent components of early childhood environments are there

Three interdependent components of early childhood environments Physical Environment Social Environment Temporal Environments

Outdoor activity zones

Transition zone Active play zone Natural elements zone Manipulative-creative zone Social-dramatic zone

Vygotsky's theory of play

___ saw the special role of play as a way to bridge between what children already understand and what they will soon be able to understand with assistance from other more experienced players or through independent replay. In ___ view, play provides an anchor between real objects and ability to symbolize.

Dramatic Play

children accept and assign roles, and then act them out. It is a time when they break through the walls of reality, pretend to be someone or something different from themselves

Games with rules

making up rules for a game or playing games with preestablished rules -such as tag, Mother-May-I, checkers, Duck-Duck-Goose, and so on

Freud (and Anna Freud and Erikson) theory of play

play helps children deal with negative experiences. In play, children feel more grown up and powerful, can exercise some control over their environments, and can relieve anxiety created by real-life conflicts.

symbolic play

pretending to be a baby, firefighter, superhero, or monster, and make believe actions, such as driving a car by moving a pretend steering wheel, or using a block of wood as a cell phone.

construction play

uses objects—blocks, Legos, Tinkertoys, or different materials (sand, modeling clay, paint, blocks)—in an organized, goal-oriented way to make something.

Onlooker Behavior

(2 Years)During this stage a child begins to watch other children playing but does not play with them.

Parallel Play

(2+ Years)When a child plays alongside or near others but does not play with them this stage is referred to as parallel play.

High Quality environment

-The bookshelves, easels, and other furniture are used to break the room into small centers. -A variety of materials are available and accessible to children. -Visuals are placed at eye-level to support children in understanding the day's schedules and routines. -Window shades are fully open to take advantage of natural light. A lamp and string of lights help to further offset the fluorescent light in the room.

Less-Supportive environment

-The wide-open space* and uniform carpet color are not supportive in helping children to know what to do. -The areas are not separated. -The cubbies are poorly organized. -The visuals are placed well above the children's eye-level