It’s easy to think that if you just had the right - space, layout, equipment, time - the kind of learning through play you dream of would appear, and the flighty version you’ve got would fade away.
And sure, there’s an aspect of this that’s true, but it’s not that big.
Play doesn’t become rich because of the things in the room. It becomes rich because of the relationships between the people in the room, which means it’s just as much about you as it is the kids, and you need to be attentive, involved, and responsive.
In other words, rich play happens because everyone in the room is a participant. Do that, and quite quickly you’ve got an environment where kids flourish. In fancy speak, it’s potentiating.
Carr and Claxton say,
“potentiating environments involve frequent participation in shared activity (Rogoff et al., 1993 p. 533) in which children or students take responsibility for directing those activities, as well as adults (Brown et al., 1993).” pp. 91-92
I can’t emphasise this enough: kids and adults have a shared responsibility for creating the kind of environment that helps the play become rich. That’s exciting, because it means your role is not restricted to being a resource fetcher, toy purchaser, and snapper of photos to post on Seesaw.
Today’s message from Pluto:
The beach is way more potentiating when you throw the sticks and I chase them. Woof!!!
Something to try that might make a difference
Once you realise that play is about relationships, not things, you need strategies to help you interact with your learners. Here’s one that’s simple to use, yet can lead to deep learning because it tunes you into the learner’s ZPD:
Spray and walk away.
Once your kids are doing something, stand back, watch, and think for a bit. — what might open the door to another level of learning?
Once you’ve got it - engage, but only briefly. Make sure you walk away.