Planning for Children's Play and Learning

Meeting children's needs in the later stages of the EYFS

Jane Drake

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781134493241
• Edition: 4
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Praise for 3rd edition:

'Experienced practitioners and students will find a host of new ideas to help them create interesting environments and starting points to promote young children's learning.' - Early Years Update, April 2009

'Planning for Children's Play and Learning includes practical guidance and ideas on creating stimulating learning environments indoors and outdoors, planning exciting learning experiences.' - Early Years Update, September 2009

This new edition of Planning for Children's Play and Learning has been fully updated to reflect the revised Early Years Foundation Stage and in line with current policy and practice. It recognises the importance of play as a context for teaching, learning and assessment and links theory with practical examples to show practitioners how they can best support the children in their care.

With new material on learning stories, language development, ICT and the home learning environment, the book includes practical guidance and ideas on:

• creating stimulating learning environments indoors and out

• planning exciting focus activities and experiences

• responding to children's individual interests and supporting personalised learning

• sound observational practice and how to assess children's learning and development

within the EYFS framework

• developing genuine partnerships with parents and learning links with home.

Incorporating 'Key Points for Good Practice' within each chapter, and direct links to the EYFS, this is a key text for all practitioners working with children in the later stages of the EYFS. It is also ideal for students pursuing Qualified Teacher Status in the Early Years and EYT Status, and for those enrolled in courses in Early Childhood Studies and Foundation Degrees in Early Years.

CHAPTER 1 Planning the learning
environment and quality
areas of provision

Children learn and develop well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and/or carers.

(Department for Education 2012)

The content of this chapter is organised as follows:

● Provision in the learning environment (page 1)

● Rest and relaxation (page 3)

● The role of the adult in supporting learning (page 4)

● Planning the environment (page 6)

● The inside area (page 9)

● Long-term plans for areas of provision (page 21)

● The outdoor environment (page 41)

● Key points for good practice (page 49)

Provision in the learning environment

The environment that is created in the early years setting should be exciting to children, inspiring in them an eagerness to explore and a zest for learning. Quality provision serves to support and challenge young children in their development across all areas of learning. Through the learning environment, and supported by the practitioner, all children can access a broad and balanced curriculum and make progress from their own starting point towards the early learning goals and beyond. The planned environment also provides the context for children's self-initiated learning. It should enable each child to pursue their own interests, allowing them to determine the direction of their learning and giving them licence to explore and experiment outside of any focus that is planned by the adult.

‘Children need plenty of space and time to play, both indoors and outdoors.’

‘Play comes naturally and spontaneously to most children, though some need adult support.’

Principles into Practice card 4.1. Learning and Development: Play and Exploration

(DfES Publications 2007)

When planning the environment, the practitioner needs to give consideration to which ‘areas’ should be included in the basic provision. The physical characteristics of the setting will influence decisions in terms of facilities and equipment available, and it may be that restricted space does not allow practitioners to offer the range of provision on a daily basis that they would choose in an ideal world. In the case of limited space, practitioners will need to plan carefully to ensure that the permanent provision (i.e. the provision offered to children every day) covers the basic curriculum and that the learning environment is enhanced regularly through the addition of extra resources (perhaps on a rotational basis) and the planning of focus activities (see Chapter 2) in order to further develop and extend children's learning in certain areas. The environment that is planned, and the curriculum that is offered, should be inclusive for all children. Of course every child is unique and it is the responsibility of the practitioner to identify and assess each individual's strengths and needs and to plan appropriately for these. However, within the group there may be children who require additional support in accessing the curriculum and the nature of their needs may have practical implications on the planning of the environment. For example, children with visual impairment need to be familiar with the layout of provision, they need to know that furniture and equipment will be in the same place every day and, if anything is changed, they should be involved in the rearrangements. All children need opportunities to learn through sensory exploration but for those with sensory impairment it is particularly important that they have access to appropriate equipment and experiences. For example, provision may include balls with different surfaces and containing bells or beads, books with large print or Braille, tactile clues such as using sandpaper labels' to identify a child's possessions, visual props such as puppets for use during story-telling in the book corner and scented water in the water tray.

Any information that is available before a child with special needs enters the setting should be used to support staff in preparing the environment appropriately (see also Chapters 4 and 6). Such preparation may include the provision of ramps or handrails for a child with physical or motor disabilities, white tape stuck on the edge of steps for a visually impaired child or the ordering of cotton gloves for a child with eczema to use in the sand tray.

The following areas of provision are recommended:

● Role-play area

● Construction area

● Mark-making/office area

● Maths area

● Water area

● Sand areas (wet and dry sand)

● Workshop area

● Malleable materials area (clay, dough, etc.)

● Music area (making and listening to music)

● Painting area

● Book corner

● IT area

● Movement play area.

There should also be regular opportunities planned and appropriate equipment available, for baking and various other food-preparation activities. Equipment for practising and developing physical skills such as climbing and balancing should be part of the permanent provision, and a list of suggested resources is included later in this chapter (under the heading ‘The outdoor environment’).

Rest and relaxation

Particularly for children in full day care spending long periods of time in the setting, there is a fundamental need for places within the environment where children can be relaxed and restful. Although the practicalities of planning such areas will involve decisions about the physical environment, such provision is essential to children's well-being and an important element in the emotional envi-ronment that is created within the setting. Three- and four-year-olds are less likely to need a full sleep during the day than the younger children (although appro-priate provision for those who do should be available), but will still have periods within the day when they want to be more ‘passive’, perhaps sitting or reclining in a quiet place watching others or cuddling a soft toy. At such times, stimulation and challenge is not appropriate.

Children, and adults, need time to ‘unwind’ and many of us will enjoy times, often at the end of a long working day, reading magazines or watching television programmes that do not engage us in deep thinking or learning but offer us an opportunity to take time out from our busy schedules and reduce the pace of our lives for a while. Children need ‘safe’ and cosy places, such as dens furnished with floor cushions and blankets, where they ca...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1 Planning the learning environment and quality areas of provision
• 2 Planning for a focus
• 3 Starting points for developing learning
• 4 Establishing and developing positive links with home
• 5 Planning display as a teaching and learning tool
• 6 Observing children's play, assessing learning and keeping useful records
• 7 Looking forward
• Bibliography
• Index