7
Produce the Play 7 Roles you can take on to engage your child in play at home r. Tracy Harrison www.igniteearlylaerning.com.au
2
Contents Welcome
3
Value of play
6
Types of play
9
Interests and strengths
15
Produce the Play roles
18
The Location Scout
21
The Stage Manager
24
The Director
26
The Acting Coach
28
The Actor
30
The Audience
32
The Reviewer
35
The best questions to ask
37
Activities
42
Now what?
52
Working with Ignite Early Learning
55
Title of the book
Welcome The Produce the Play framework uses the analogy of producing a theatre play to identify seven key roles that you can take on, to
support
your
child
and
engage them in play at home. Each Produce the Play role corresponds to one commonly found
in
theatre
and
includes
manager, coach,
productions the
director,
actor,
stage acting
audience
and
reviewer.
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The purpose of the framework is to build your child’s engagement in play, as well as fostering your understanding of your child’s interests and needs so that you can respond to them using play as your mechanism. I believe that through play, parents build lifelong connections with their child, so, this framework is designed to simplify this relationship by building your skills in facilitating learning through play at home. The activities at the end of this book include suggested toys and resources that can be used across different types of play including pretend, construction, pre-literacy and creative arts play. Activities, toys and resources are open-ended and gender neutral so that your child can use it in a variety of ways. The activity ideas can be adapted to your individual child’s interests and have been produced to encompass the various play types, resulting in learning being extended. By using the Produce the
Play framework your child’s play will become richer and prolonged.
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The Produce the Play framework forms part of our PARENTS methodolgy that helps parents understand the 7 key elements that are needed to feel confident and connected to parenting.
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Value of Play Play is children’s work. It’s the mechanism for them to explore their world, test ideas, and learn how to problem solve. Through
play, young children build lifelong skills and dispositions needed for success.
There are a number of characteristics of play that when observed carefully, can give you insights into your child’s interests, skills and learning dispositions:
•
Through play children communicate using verbal and nonverbal cues. They share information and knowledge that gives insight into what they are thinking, understand, and want to explore;
•
Children play to make meaning of their world. They will reenact what they see, hear and know. By playing, they are building on their knowledge and understanding;
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•
When children are engaged in play they will become deeply involved and absorbed in what they are doing. By focusing hard on their play they are concentrating on and thinking
about
what
they
are
doing,
which,
builds
understanding and learning;
•
Play is where children experiment with and learn social conventions to interact with others. As children develop they will move from solitary play to more cooperative play with their peers;
•
When children play they are being active as they use their minds and bodies; and
•
Play allows children to take risks, as the nature of play allows them to try new things in a safe and secure environment.
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Most importantly, play is fun and because of this, learning will
occur. We can extend learning further by scaffolding their play by introducing new ideas and resources. A great way to do this is by incorporating resources and toys from across the different types of play and to do this, you need to understand
play and then get creative.
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Types of Play There are many different types of play that young children can become involved in. Although each type of play can be explored on its own, combining them together can enrich the play further and can introduce children to other types of play that they may not usually become involved in.
Dramatic play sees children taking on familiar roles and reenacting them. Common dramatic play themes include cooking, shopping, looking after babies, visiting the vet, and
going to a restaurant. Dramatic play allows children to explore familiar experiences again and again, and are valuable as they are language rich experiences.
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Pre-literacy and numeracy are commonly incorporated into dramatic play through the introduction of resources such as menu’s,
money,
and
shopping
lists.
Information
communication technology (ICT) can also be incorporated to support dramatic play, pre-literacy and numeracy.
Dramatic play becomes a social experience when it involves other people including adults and peers. Sociodramatic
play
allows
children
to
practice
skills
in
collaboration and negotiation whilst being involved in play themes that are familiar and of interest. This language rich play, develops communication skills, extend language and forms the beginning of the skills needed to write stories.
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Like dramatic play, fantasy play also involves children using their imaginations and allows children to used props and resources to explore new ideas and places. Fantasy play can be set up similar to large dramatic play experiences, or include the creation of small world play by creating make believe worlds using figurines.
During all forms of social play, young children are learning about the rules associated with social engagement and interactions with others. It is learnt predominately through interactions with peers and is evident in games with rules, conversations and collaborations.
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Small world play includes using figurine like people, animals, and cars to represent real life scenarios. Through the creations of these small worlds, young children are following their interests to create pretend play scenarios. Small worlds can be created using your child’s favourite characters and is a great way to incorporate toys and resources from other play types such as creative arts and construction.
Young children have an innate interest in the world around them.
Through exploratory play, they are able to access concrete resources and explore its properties and functions. This type of play involves using physical skills as well as their senses to discover what can be done with them. For younger children, this
will involve handling, throwing and mouthing toys. As children become older they will manipulate the objects in more traditional ways in order to assess its possibilities and content.
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Manipulative play sees children developing their fine and gross motor skills. By exploring materials and resources, children are developing their hand eye coordination and dexterity. Fine motor play is important to strengthen hands for writing and includes playing with puzzles, threading and small constructions toys.
Children’s acquisition of language starts from birth as they play around with and manipulate sounds and words. This language play includes playing with words, engaging in singing and acting, using rhyme and repetition, and experimenting with nonsense words.
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Play that involves children exploring their bodies and materials, through dance and the creative arts allows children to design, explore, and use their imaginations. Creative play is a way for young children to express their feelings and ideas by using their bodies and materials.
Games with rules develops in the early years and becomes more complex as children develop the social and emotional
skills to facilitate this play. Younger children typically have flexible rules whereas older children start to build more conventional rules into their play, needed for board games, outdoor
play,
pretend
play
and
child-created
games.
Language plays and important part as children need to explain, negotiate, and question.
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Interests and strengths The
Produce
framework developed
the has
to
help
Play
Many of the roles require you
been
to observe your child’s play
parents
closely so that you can identify
understand some of the roles
your
child’s
they may need to take on in
learning characteristics, which
order to support engagement
we call the “characteristics of
in learning through play at
success”.
home.
these two elements, you will
By
interests
focusing
and
on
facilitate opportunities for your child that are educational and successful.
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Before diving into the Produce the Play roles, we need to identify your child’s interests and strengths across the different play areas. When we identify these interests we have a starting point in which we can grow your child’s learning.
Firstly get a large piece of paper and mind map all your child interests. Break them up into the different play types of construction, pretend play, dramatic play, physical and outdoor play, reading, drawing and writing, the creative arts, and so one. Narrow each group down with specifics. For example your child may be interested in Lego but not blocks.
Next list all the themes that your child likes and is interested in. These may include a topics like trains and space, or their favourite movies and characters.
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Lastly, think about your child’s strengths, in particular, the “characteristics of success” that they exhibit as well as strengths associated with skills and dispositions. You can group
these
into
interpersonal
strengths
like
empathy,
confidence, collaborative and resilient and approaches to learning including curiosity, persistence, problem solving, initiative, self-motivation and critical thinking.
Now you have your list of strengths and interests, it’s time to learn about the roles that you may need to take in your child’s play.
Title of the book
17
Produce the Play roles Now that we have a list of your child’s strengths and interests, we are going to look at the roles in the Produce the Play framework. The Produce the Play framework has identified 7 roles that correspond to those commonly found role within the theatre. By using this analogy, the roles are easy to remember as the approach associated with the role can be applied to children’s play.
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The roles within the Produce the Play framework are: •
The Location Scout finds the right theatre (place) for play to occur;
•
The Stage Manager provides the resources, creates the space, and sets the scene for the play;
•
The Director helps to create the storylines that can be acted out;
•
The Acting Coach plays alongside the child in order to
teach play skills; •
The Actor participates at the child’s request to play;
•
The Audience comments from outside the play and observes what is happening to give feedback and praise;
•
The Reviewer helps the child to represent play visually by writing, drawing, or photographing what is happening.
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During your child’s play you may need to take on all or none of the roles depending on your child’s engagement in play. Overtime, as you practice these roles, you will become more creative in looking for opportunities to take on the different roles so that your child’s learning through play is optimised.
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The Location Scout You will need to take on the role of The Location Scout when your child requires assistance to find the best place to play.
When would you take on this role? • When your child needs to be close to you, including by your side or in sight of you. • When you child needs you to interact with them during their play to keep it going. • When you want to get things done. • When the resources and toys that your child is using requires ample space to be successful. • You want to nurture a characteristic of success and need to observe your child at play.
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What are some of the questions you need to ask?
• Does your child look for you during their play? • Does your child play for longer when you are close by? • Does your child play differently in their bedroom, in the lounge, by your side?
• Does your child like to play inside or outside? • What toys is your child using and do they have ample space to play?
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Hints and tips
• If your child likes you close, then find a place where you can get things done and still interact with your child.
• Follow your child’s interests and strengths. If your child plays
more independently outside and you need to work. Consider moving your location to get more things done.
• Young children can get frustrated when they move around toys and they break (e.g. train sets). Find a location that fits the toys, and their bodies.
• Bedrooms aren’t always the best place for children to play, particularly if they are using new toys, harder toys, need you close, or need encouragement to keep going.
• Selecting a location close by so that you can interact with your child, will keep the play going for longer.
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The Stage Manager You take on the role of The Stage Manager when you need to
choose resources, set them up, and help your child start to play.
When would you take on this role? • When you want to introduce a new play idea or extend upon an existing ones. • When your child needs assistance to get play started. • When you want to create engaging play themes and activities.
What are some of the questions you need to ask? • Can your child’s play become more advanced by presenting resources and toys in a more inviting way? • Does your child need help to come up with play ideas to get started? • Do you need to talk to your child about their play?
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Hints and tips • Use your child’s interests and select toys and resources that reflects them. • By adding props and resources from a different play area, you can extend your child’s learning and play. • Children enjoy inviting spaces so set up smaller versions of learning environments seen in childcare centres, in your home. • Look for resources that are open ended as they will encourage your child to explore play more independently. • Once the play is set up, talk to your child about the play, using open ended questions that supports your child to identify how they will use and play with the resources. • Collaborate with your child by giving them choices and co-
constructing play ideas and themes. • Measure the success of your child’s engagement in play by timing how long they play independently and noting any support they require from you.
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The Director The Director role will be taken on when your child needs help to create storylines and play ideas. The parent will observe the play from
a
distance
and
look
for
the
non-verbal
and
verbal
communication strategies that your child uses and act upon them. The purpose of The Director role is to keep the play going.
When would you take on this role? • When your child can play independently for a period of time, but you want to support them to play for longer. • When your child becomes distracted or frustrated when playing. • When you introduce toys and resources that require your child to
solve problems and be challenged. • When you want to get things done and you need your child to play independently
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What are some of the questions you need to ask? • What types of questions does your child respond to? • Does your child play for longer with additional support? • Does your child abandon play when things go wrong? • Does your child work through problems alone or requires prompts and questions
Hints and tips • When taking on this role observe your child from a distance. • Look for signs of distress, frustration, boredom, and slowing down in the play. • Interact with your child by giving them ideas. • Help them move their play to the next step. • Give suggestions based on your knowledge as well as your child interests and previous experiences. • Give feedback on your child’s play.
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The Acting Coach You will need to take on the role of The Acting Coach when your child needs to learn how to play and/or use resources. As The Acting Coach you show, talk and demonstrate how to use resources and play themes in order to extend your child’s play. When children don’t have the play skills they may become frustrated and abandon play.
When would you take on this role? • When your child becomes frustrated in play and/or abandons their play. • When you introduce a new toy or resource. • When your child is younger and developing play skills.
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What are some of the questions you need to ask? • How has my child used the toys and resource before? • Does my child become frustrated during play?
Hints and tips • Young children sometimes require you to teach them how to use resources. • Help your child to create a storyline that you can act out with them. • Help your child to make sense of their play by explaining and demonstrating what is happening and what can happen. • Support your child’s play by engaging in their play. • Take on The Reviewer role as well by documenting the steps of the play by taking photos and videos. • Co-construct with your child by sharing decisions with them.
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The Actor A parent will need to assume The Actor role at the request of their child. This role is different to The Acting Coach as you follow your
child’s lead. The purpose of this role is to connect through play and to take time to listen.
When would you take on this role? • When your child invites you to play. • When you want to build your child’s confidence in leading play with adults and peers. • When you want to understand and observe your child’s approaches to play and thinking. • When you want to connect to your child through play.
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What are some of the questions you need to ask? • How will I support my child to lead the play? • How does my child lead their play?
Hints and tips • Let your child lead the play. This occurs when they are telling you what to do and how to play. • Show delight in your child’s play. • When you get involved in your child’s play they will give you valuable information. • Taking on the actor role allows you to connect with your child
during play.
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The Audience You will take on the role of The Audience from outside the play so that the play can continue.
When would you take on this role? • When your child can play independently and requires support and encouragement to continue. • When you want to reinforce positive behaviours and approaches to learning. • When you want your child to know that you are showing interest in their play. • When your child is playing with new things and needs praise and encouragement as reinforcement for their attempts.
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What are some of the questions you need to ask? • Does my child benefit from praise and encouragement? • Does my child learn new behaviours and approaches to learning through positive reinforcement?
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Hints and tips
• When you take on this role, respond to your child’s play, including their attempts. • Comment on your child’s learning, ideas and developments. • Give encouragement and additional ideas. • Discuss how the play could be developed.
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The Reviewer A parent will take on the role of The Reviewer when your child’s play is coming to an end and you want to document it so that you can recreate it or extend upon it at another time
When would you take on this role? • When your child’s play is coming to an end. • When you have observed an achievement that can be documented. • When you want to document learning so that you can recreate it or build upon it to discuss it later. • When you want to increase your child’s pre-literacy skills by creating ‘stories’ of their play using photographs and apps. • When you want to share your child play with others
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What are some of the questions you need to ask? • What was significant in my child’s play that I want to explore further, document or discuss? • What is the best way to document this learning and who will I share it with? • What are the open-ended questions that I need to ask to help my child identify their next steps in learning?
Hints and tips • You can review your child’s play by writing down your child’s explanation of their play, draw a picture of their creations and play (with them), or photograph what happened in the play. • When the play is documented it can be used in The Stage Manager, The Director and The Acting Coach roles. • Make videos and slideshows to share with other adults to encourage discussions about your child’s day and play.
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The best questions to ask When taking on the Produce
By
using
them,
the Play roles, you will want
unlocking
your
to stimulate conversations
creative thinking and will gain
and ideas and this is best
valuable
done through open-ended
your
questions. The beauty of
Research
open-ended
is
importance of a language
that there is always more
rich environment for young
than one answer.
children, and using the right
questions
you
child’s
insight into
child
questions,
are
is
what
thinking.
shows
will
the
stimulate
language use as well as affirming your child’s ideas and interests.
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Generally open-ended questions are going to fall within one of these categories: •
questions that help your child to make a prediction;
•
questions that give your child an opportunity to consider consequences;
•
questions that assess your child’s feeling;
•
questions that stimulate thinking about differences and similarities;
•
questions that help your child to apply their knowledge to a problem or situation; and
•
questions that promote discussion to evaluate a situation or your child’s play.
When using the Produce the Play framework, you will already be building upon your child’s interests to find opportunities for learning through play. When taking on the roles, there are some questions that you can ask to draw out and help your child to engage in play for longer.
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The Location Scout finds the best
As The Stage Manager you will be
place to play so try asking your
setting up your child’s play and
child questions like:
getting it started, so ask:
• What are you thinking you
• What do you see and what will you do?
might play today? • Where would you like me to
• Tell me about the characters?
be?
You may need to use a lot of questions that help your child to consider alternatives and consequences when in The Director role like: • What can you do to get it to work? • What do you see happening? • How do you explain ____________ (that) • Do you have any ideas?
• How could we make it work? • Can you think of a new way? • Can you tell me more about what happened?
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The Acting Coach helps to
When you are The Actor you are
develop play skills so you
taking on a role that is led by your
could draw upon questions
child so keep questions simple and
like:
ask:
• What do you see?
• Can we solve it together?
• What makes it work?
• What can I do?
As The Audience you are giving feedback and praise so consider using questions that are evaluative or demonstrate how your child applied their knowledge to solve problems • I noticed ______ and saw you solve that problem by _______ • Tell me about the characters? • Was it easy? • Tell me what you made, built, or created ________
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As The Reviewer you will ask lots of evaluation questions like: • How might you do it differently? • What did you see happening? • What problems did you have and how did you solve them? • How did you get it to work, can you show me?
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Activities The following activities demonstrate how to build upon your child’s interest to engage them in learning through play across play and curriculum areas. When you follow your child’s interests you are able to introduce your child
to new experiences that meet needs and gaps in development.
1. Make a small word for dinosaurs/animals 2. Paint back drop 3. Landscape accessories 4. Paint a play mat 5. Create new worlds 6. Create homes for figurines 7. Furnish your homes 8. Create building cards 9. Make a construction zone
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Make a small world for dinosaurs/animals Resources
Tip
Type of play –small world play
1.
Dinosaur/animal pack
Add a book next to your
The benefits of imaginative/pretend play
2.
Felt
dinosaur small world to
is that it is linked to storytelling which is a
3.
Natural materials (pine
encourage storylines and
pre-literacy experience. Pretend play also
cones, sticks, rocks)
extension of play
increases vocabulary and engages a
4.
Plastic tray or drop sheet
child’s imagination.
Producing the play The purpose of this activity is to develop an imaginative/pretend play activity by setting up a dinosaur play
scene The Location Scout: Find the best location for this play based on you and your child’s needs. Look for a place that can be set up and left; or is portable and can be easily set up again. If you need to get things done, then find a location that is within sight, so that you and interact and observe your child playing The Stage Manager: Depending on your child’s skills, either set up the play scene for your child or get your child involved. Use the felt to represent water and grass. Use the rocks and natural resources to build a landscape. Introduce the idea of creating a land for the dinosaurs and recall past experiences and
knowledge, books read, museums visits or movie watched The Director: When your child is engaged in play, begin to move to the sides of the play (or complete the task you need to do). Continue to give your child feedback and ideas to keep the play going. The Acting Coach, The Actor, The Audience: Depending on your child, you may need to take on these roles for the play to continue for longer. Move in when you start to see signs of frustration, non-purposeful play, or boredom. As your child becomes engaged again, move back away. The Reviewer: When your child is finished or close to finishing, sit with your child and discuss the play. You can also document the play be taking photographs, drawing pictures, and writing down what they describe. Next Steps: Paint a back drop on large paper.
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Paint a back drop Resources 1. 2. 3. 4.
Large paper Paint Collage materials Multiple sized paint brushes
Type of play
Tip
Following your child’s interests will
Choose a paint brush that your
increase their engagement in
child can hold successfully. The
creative art experiences.
more loosely the grip the wider the brush handle needs to be.
This activity helps build your child’s imagination by creating a back drop for their play scenes The Location Scout: This activity will require you to be very close or involved depending on your child's needs and development The Stage Manager: You may need to set up this experience by drawing an outline of the features to be
painted such as sky, grass, trees and mountains. Set up the experience by talking about how they are going to paint the back drop– colours, order, what’s first, and when they will need your help The Director: To engage your child you may need to tell them how to complete the task, one step at a time, so that they don’t become frustrated and the activity is successful. If your child can paint alone they may require you to be close to give them reminders and suggestions The Acting Coach: The first few times you try creative arts activities with your child they may require a lot of instruction, especially if creating something new. The Actor: Your child may need you to paint alongside them as well as showing them how to use the equipment and resources The Audience: Your child may require a lot of feedback to complete each step The Reviewer: When your child is finished, recall how they are completed the play mat, what they liked, and how they are going to use it Next Steps: Use craft materials to create more items to build a landscape. Ideas could include using boxes
to make houses and cars; making papier-mâché mountains and volcanos; and using paddle pop sticks or old pegs to make people and animals.
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Landscape accessories Resources
Tip
Type of play
1.
Collage materials
Brainstorm accessories that you can
This is a creative arts experience
2.
Boxes
add to your play scene.
with
3.
Toilet rolls
4.
Painting materials
Collect
used
boxes
and
recycled
materials and add to collage box.
the
ideas
to
be
used
in
conjunction with figurines to move play into imaginative and pretend play.
In this activity your child will be creating the accessories to be added to their small world pretend play scene. The Location Scout: This activity will require your child to search through collage items as part of the imaginative and planning process. They will also require a place where they can ‘make a mess’. Depending on our chid, you may need to stay close The Stage Manager: Start talking to your child about their ideas. Display the collage materials in a way that they can access them easily as they come up with ideas. You may need to help them identify uses of materials based on their ideas. Keeping the play scene close or referring to a photograph will assist with identifying items to create The Director: Children will move through one creation as a time, so you may need to go into this role when they have finished one creation to help them move to the next. The Acting Coach: As with many art and craft experiences, your child may need assistance when starting. The Actor: Your child may want you to get involved in this activity. Try to follow their lead. The Audience: Your child may require a lot of feedback to complete each step. A great idea is to take a photographs as they create each item or add it to the play scene. In this role, try to relate it back to the play scene The Reviewer: Review creation with your child in order, and talk about how it will be used in the play scene. Also focus on the progress they went through and what they can do next. Next steps: Create a play mat related to your child’s play scene
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Paint a play mat Resources
Type of play
Tip
1.
Cardboard box (large)
Following your child’s interests will
Choose a paint brush that your
2.
Paint
increase their engagement in
child can hold successfully. The
3.
Multiple sized paint brushes
creative art experiences.
more loosely the grip the wider the brush handle needs to be.
The purpose of this activity is to create a play mat to complement a pretend play theme your child has been involved in (e.g. city space, habitat, and construction zone) The Location Scout: This activity will require you to be very close or involved The Stage Manager: You may need to set up this experience by drawing an outline of the features to be
painted such as roads, train tracks, parks, and vacant lots. Set up the experience by talking about how they are going to paint the play mat – colours, order, what’s first, and when they will need your help The Director: To engage your child you may need to tell them how to complete the task, one step at a time, so that they don’t become frustrated and the activity is successful. If your child can paint alone they may require you to be close to give them reminders and suggestions The Acting Coach: The first few times you try creative arts activities with your child they may require a lot of instruction, especially if creating something new. The Actor: Your child may need you to paint alongside them as well as showing them how to use the equipment and resources The Audience: Your child may require a lot of feedback to complete each step The Reviewer: When your child is finished, recall how they are completed the play mat, what they liked, and how they are going to use it Next Steps: Next time find other ways to included creative art activities into your child’s pretend and
imaginative play. Ideas could include using boxes to make houses and cars; making papier-mâché mountains and volcanos; and using paddle pop sticks or old pegs to make people and animals.
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Create new worlds Resources
Tip
Type of play
1.
Drawing materials
This activity can be used as part of
This activity develops thinking and
2.
Reference books
any
If
imagination. The activity can take
3.
Images
creating a play scene for dinosaurs,
on one or two parts beginning with
4.
A great question
ask them how it would look different if
designing, discussing a new world,
the dinosaur lived in the desert.
and then creating it
play
scene
development.
Pose a question relating to your child’s interests like “Imagine if Elsa lived in the jungle, what would her home look like, who would be her friends, and what would she wear? Then draw and/or create this new world. The Location Scout: This activity will require you to be very close and involved so that you can guide the discussion using open ended questions. Over time, your child will be able to work through this type of thinking more independently The Stage Manager: Sit with your child and pose your question. Document their ideas. When all the ideas are documented, then ask your child to draw and/or create one part at a time (e.g. draw the scene, draw Elsa in her new outfit)
The Director: You will be able to move into The Director role once your child has mastered the experience. The first few times your child does this activity they may need lots of ideas and discussions, so use openended questions and refer back to books and images. The Acting Coach: When you introduce this experience to your child you will need to take on the Acting Coach role and teach them the skills they will need to be successful. In particular, you may need to coach them by brining in books and images, and showing them the mechanics to draw and create play scenes The Actor: Your child may want you to get involved in this activity, especially if it is new. If so, get a large
piece of paper so that you can both draw. The Audience: Your child may require a lot of feedback to complete each step. A great idea is to take a photograph of each step. The Reviewer: Review the drawing/ creation with your child in order, focusing on the progression. Next steps: Now you have an idea, try to recreate it using blocks, construction sets, collage materials and figurines to make houses and play scenes
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Create homes for figurines Resources
Tip
Type of play
1.
Blocks/ boxes
This is a great activity when you
This activity incorporates both imaginative play,
2.
People and animals
want to extend your child’s
building
interests into construction by
designing. It can be extended by creating
using their interest
storylines
and
construction,
planning
and
In this activity your child will build houses and homes for the characters and animals that they are interested in. Examples would include, animals, dinosaurs, toy dolls, Disney princess's, and figurines
The Location Scout: Find the best location for this play based on you and your child’s needs. Look for an area that has a stable base to help with stabilising the blocks. If your child sits in the ‘W’ position, consider setting up the blocks on a small/ coffee table so that they can sit on their knees. The Stage Manager: Start this experience by setting up the blocks/boxes on the table/floor. Add in their favourite complimentary toys (e.g. animals/ figurines) to spark their interest. The first few times your child will need direction and ideas to set the scene to use the blocks/boxes to create houses and homes. The Director: When your child is engaged in play, begin to move to the sides of the play (or complete the
task you need to do). Continue to give your child feedback and ideas to keep the play going. The Acting Coach: Remember that in the initial stages and depending on your child’s ability, your child may need direct assistance to use the materials a new way. The Actor, The Audience: Depending on your child, you may need to take on these roles for the play to continue for longer. Move in when you start to see signs of frustration, non-purposeful play, or boredom. As your child becomes engaged again, move back away. The Reviewer: When your child is finished or close to finishing, sit with your child and discuss the play. You can also document the play be taking photographs, drawing pictures, and writing down what they describe. Next Steps: Make furniture for the house using recycled boxes and containers. Extend the play further by creating a play scene adding collage materials to create gardens.
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Furnish your homes Resources
Type of play
Tip
1.
Boxes
Go back and look at the photos
This is a creative arts experience with the
2.
Collage materials
you took of the house/ homes
ideas to be used in conjunction with homes
3.
Painting materials
you built
your child built, to move play into
4.
Scissors and tape
imaginative and pretend play.
The purpose of this activity is to develop an imaginative/pretend play activity by adding components to the homes your child designed.
The Location Scout: This activity will require your child to search through collage items as part of the imaginative and planning process. They will also require a place where they can ‘make a mess’. Depending on our chid, you may need to stay close The Stage Manager: Start talking to your child about their ideas. Show them the photographs you took of the homes they built previously. Display the collage materials in a way that they can access them easily as they come up with ideas. You may need to help them identify uses of materials based on their ideas. Keeping the play scene close or referring to a photograph will assist with identifying items to create
The Director: Children will move through one creation as a time, so you may need to go into this role when they have finished one creation to help them move to the next. The Acting Coach:
As with many art and craft experiences, your child may need assistance when
starting. The Actor: Your child may want you to get involved in this activity. Try to follow their lead. The Audience: Your child may require a lot of feedback to complete each step. A great idea is to take a photographs as they create each item or add it to the play scene. In this role, try to relate it back to the play scene The Reviewer: Review creation with your child in order, and talk about how it will be used in the play scene. Also focus on the progress they went through and what they can do next. Next Steps: Get out some blocks/boxes and paper and design new houses, creating building cards
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Create building cards Resources 1.
Camera
2.
Construction set
3.
Drawing materials
Type of play
Tip These building cards need to be simple enough for your child to follow. The best way to do this is to think steps. The first card you may use two pieces, the second card you may use three, and so on.
This construction play develops thinking, mathematical and problem solving skills.
Create building cards by taking a photo or drawing a picture of constructions that your child can copy. Put them in a display folder and next time you want your child to build something on their own, pull out the
display folder, choose a card and let them build. The Location Scout: If you want your child to complete the activity independently, you may need to be close by. The more complex the constructions you want to document, the closer and more involved you will need to be. The Stage Manager: If you want to get your child involved, build it with them and then draw alongside them or pull out your iPad, build and shoot. Start the activity by explaining the activity and equipment. If your child is building independently, you can give them step by step instructions, sending them to build first, and
then come back to take the photo, or complete the drawing. The Director: You will be able to move into The Director role once your child has mastered the experience. The first few times, you may need to give encourage and instructions from the sidelines, especially is using the camera is new to your child. The Acting Coach: If using new equipment (e.g. camera), you will need to move into this role. You will also go into this role when helping your child to make more complex constructions to photograph/ draw. The Actor: When creating the constructions, you can be lead by your child. The Audience: Your child will get a lot of satisfaction taking the photographs, so spend time giving them
feedback. The Reviewer: Part of the reviewer role will be to discuss next steps, including how you will display the photographs/drawings. Next Steps: An important thing to remember is the sequence that children generally build on their own. Usually children will build along the floor before they start to tackle the complexities of vertical structures that require balance. Make new cards as your child’s construction skills develop.
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Make a construction zone Resources
Type of play
Tip
1.
Lego
Brainstorm with your child
The benefits of imaginative/pretend play is that
2.
Lego people
everything they know about
it is linked to storytelling which is a pre-literacy
3.
Vehicles
construction
experience. Pretend play also increases vocabulary and engages a child’s imagination.
The purpose of this activity is to develop an imaginative/pretend play activity by setting up a Lego play scene
The Location Scout: Find the best location for this play based on you and your child’s needs. Look for a place that can be set up and left; or is portable and can be easily set up again. If you need to get things done, then find a location that is within sight, so that you and interact and observe your child playing The Stage Manager: Depending on your child’s skills, either set up the play scene for your child or get your child involved. Set up a construction site using the vehicles and crane. Talk about the different roles the Lego people need to take on and what needs to be built. Introduce the idea by recalling past experiences, books read, previous play or movies watched.
The Director: When your child is engaged in play, begin to move to the sides of the play (or complete the task you need to do). Continue to give your child feedback and ideas to keep the play going. The Acting Coach, The Actor, The Audience: Depending on your child, you may need to take on these roles for the play to continue for longer. Move in when you start to see signs of frustration, non-purposeful play, or boredom. As your child becomes engaged again, move back away. The Reviewer: When your child is finished or close to finishing, sit with your child and discuss the play. You can also document the play be taking photographs, drawing pictures, and writing down what they
describe. Next Steps: Supplement Lego for other construction sets. Continue to extend and develop play themes (e.g. build towns, cities, and add other transport)
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Now What? Play at the centre of what’s next
Now you’ve identified your child’s interests and know the roles that you can take on to engage your child in play for longer, you can now use play as your mechanism to understand the strategies your child using to communicate with you, and identify the characteristics of success to nurture based upon your approaches to parenting. Characteristics of success
The early years are when you lay the foundation for your child’s future success by nurturing the dispositions that they will draw upon now and into the future. At Ignite Early Learning, we call these dispositions, characteristics of success, as they are routinely
seen
in
successful
business
people,
artist’s,
entrepreneurs, scientists, inventors and innovators. They include
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characteristics such as being able to solve problems, remain
optimistic, demonstrate persistence and resilience, and possess a love of learning. As play is your child’s work, then these characteristics are best nurtured through play. How to listen
The Chinese character for listen includes the sub characters of ears, eyes and heart. By focusing on these three characters in
play, you are able to understand the strategies that your child uses to communicate with you. At Ignite Early Learning, we have developed a framework for listening to your child, and use play as one the mechanism to
observe
your
child,
interpret
the
strategies
they
use
to
communicate, make a plan for what’s next, and act and review to ensure that your child feels listened too.
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Align your approach
Being clear on your approach to parenting, especially around how you want to discipline, communicate and nurture your child now and into the future is important. When you are clear on your approaches, it gives you a framework, reduces the ‘noise’, and
helps you to navigate the information overload often associated with parenting. More than this, knowing you approach allows you to align with others who are part of your child’s village. At Ignite Early Learning, we help you to be clear, assess and practice your approaches using play as the mechanism.
Title of the book
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Working with Ignite Early Learning At Ignite Early Learning we take a holistic view to parenting. Founding Director, Tracy Harrison, draws upon her experience in early childhood education and as a mum, to help parents to understand 7 key elements. By focusing on producing play at home, understanding approaches to parenting so you’re aligned, building relationships to connect, providing an environment for play to occur easily, navigating the day so if flows better, taking time to listen so you understand your child, and identifying characteristics of success because this is what we want for our kids, PARENTS feel confident and connected to parenting armed with a plan and strategies to continue to draw upon. Get the best advice and put a spark in your child’s learning by getting in touch with Ignite Early Learning today
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Contact us to access one of our programs Phone: Email:
+61 410103042 tracy@igniteearlylearning.com.au
Website: www.igniteearlylearning.com.au
Š 2015 Ignite Early Learning
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