Learning, Playing and Interacting - Good practice in the Early Years ...

48 The National Strategies | Early Years
Learning, Playing and Interacting – Good practice in the Early Years Foundation Stage
Child-initiated time – Pirates
Alongside exploring his interest in trees, Joshua demonstrated another interest which
often took prime place in his play. For several days, he and a small group of friends
consistently chose to use the soft blocks, and were playing pirate games.
Building a pirate ship was the focus, which soon also included an island.
Ensuring
children
have time
for sustained
child-initiated
activity
The adults observed the play, and noticed that Joshua had lots of ideas and was
listened to by the other children. They felt that this play was a confidence-booster
for Joshua who could be reserved in other contexts.
One day the children started to build a large ‘tower’ on the ship. The adult said, ‘I haven’t
seen a pirate ship with a tower before.’ Joshua said, ‘Yes, they do have these, but they
aren’t called towers.’ He went to get the pirate book he had been reading with the
teacher, and together they found the word ‘mast’.
The adults planned to place wooden sticks and string of different lengths in the block
area the next day, to encourage the children to explore the ideas of masts. It would
involve a challenge in mounting and fixing the uprights, and comparing lengths.
Identifying and supporting
next steps in learning
Seeking to
know and
understand
each individual
child and
their development
Scaffolding
children’s
learning
through talk,
discussing
strategies
and ideas,
suggesting
possibilities
and modelling
approaches
00775-2009BKT-EN © Crown copyright 2009