The Story Bus

Every Monday afternoon, Bee, Mo Mo and me visit our local Story Bus. It's essentially a children's library bus, jam packed with books from birth up to 5 and lovely displays, toys and activities like the felt story board and colouring pots. When we arrive, there is a singing session and then a story session- told by one of the two lovely story tellers who take the bus to different stops in Stockport (Cheshire- UK). After that, the children get to choose the books they want to borrow. This can include one story sack which contains a book and either a toy/puppet or a cd to go with the book. There are board books and bath books for Bee- she just loves the songs and being with the other children. It's such a brilliant idea!

PSRN

I saw this idea on one of the lovely blogs I read. I can't remember which one- so if anyone knows, please let me know and I can link to the blog. Self explanatory really- area and perimeter for little ones!

Too Many Toys = Not Enough Playing!

I have episodes of mad tidying every now and then. Take tonight, TWH came home from work to find that the large, chunky coffee table that occupies the centre of our living room had disappeared after 4 years of being in the same spot! I've not thrown it out (I couldn't- it was bought with my hard earned pennies as a newly qualified teacher from an art gallery in Brighton- in a former life!) I've just relocated it! We need more space and besides, Bee keeps whacking her head on it now that she can crawl.

Anyway, the playroom had been bugging me for several weeks and one day last week I came upon the realisation that it isn't so much a room where we play as a room where we just shove every play thing that we own. First to be culled was the soft toy collection! We have millions of the things- taking up valuable storage space! Next was putting everything into labelled boxes so that Mo Mo can access them whenever she wants without everything being piled into one toy box on top of one another.

 


Ikea boxes with wheels- easy to move around the room.



I also came to the conclusion that the more there is to play with, the less my little girl actually plays! I decided to see what effect having less toys out in the room would have. I put most things away and put out a few key activities/stimuli based on Mo Mo's current interests - she really is 'enveloping girl' when it comes to schemas.





All tidy! And now I have a lovely big wall space to fill too!



Writing basket- Mo Mo has started pre-school and they are doing 'Letter Of The Week' which she has really taken an interest in. The basket has pens and pencils and the little bag inside has cards with her name on and letter cards with the letters of her name to match them. The book is a magnetic letter book from M&S.





Two tea sets- they are so cute, I couldn't decide between them! They are usually in boxes, but actually getting them out has resulted in much more interest in them.





I combined the wooden blocks with a fab little wooden village set in our 'tuff spot'. Behind it, I left lots of space on the window sill for building creations.



A couple of jigsaws that we haven't played with for a while. The animal one makes noises.



A selection of napkins and cloths for practicing folding and wrapping up anything that takes our fancy!



Counting and colour matching penguins.

 



Counting/sorting sensory box. Great little catterpillars,  flowers, leaves and butterflies in different colours. I added some counting books and cards along with a couple of versions of The Hungry Catterpillar, some little bags and a pair of plastic tweezers.



I re-organised the playroom whilst Mo Mo was in bed and so it was all new and exciting for her the next morning. She went straight for the sensory box and started sorting!



After a week of our improved 'less is more'  play room, Mo Mo has been more focussed and played for longer. She has occasionally asked for other, specific toys and has added them to the toys already out when she has been playing. I am now going to add to and change some of the toys, puzzles and games each week and see how we get on. I am interested in finding out more about how to use Montessori methodology in our playroom. I can feel some more research coming on!

Some other lovely blog posts about the 'Less Is More' concept:

Childhood 101

Maria Montessori

Loving Earth Mama

In The Schema Things

Schemas are patterns of repeatable behaviour, persistent actions or compulsions which can often be noticed in young children's play. A schema can be demonstrated through a child's actions, language, drawings, 3D modelling, movement, speech or play. Schemas indicate the childs focus in an activity. Not every child has strong schemas, some children may only display schematic play for a short period of time before moving onto another schema or some children may never display schematic play.

Some easily identifiable schemas are:

Transporting

For example- carrying objects from one place to another; pushing a friend around in a toy pram; filling shopping bags, buggies, trailers etc.

Enveloping

For example- covering themselves in a flannel when washing; wrapping dolls and toys up in blankets and fabric; covering their painting with one colour; exploring under and inside; filling bags up;  dressing up; burying things; going inside tents, tunnels, and play house; writing letters- folding and using envelopes;  filling containers with sand and water; den building. This focus can be used to develop understanding of space, size, volume and capacity.

Enclosure/containing-A child may put their thumb in and out of their mouth;  fill up and empty containers of all kinds;  climb into large boxes; sit in the tunnel; build 'cages' with blocks.

Trajectory;Diagonal/vertical/horizontal- A child may gaze at your face; drop things from their cot; make arcs in their spilt food with their hand; play with the running water in the bathroom; climb up and jump off furniture; line up the cars; bounce and kick balls; throwing and throwing games.  Children interested in trajectories enjoy very active learning- they run / climb / jump/ enjoy throwing and kicking balls. Children often enjoy work with pulleys and playing ball games. They are often interested in woodwork or percussion or fascinated by rockets and enjoy learning about planets and space.

Rotation- Some children are fascinated by things that go round- the spinning washing machine; anything with wheels; rolling down a hill; enjoy spinning round or being swung around. They play with wheeled toys, play with water wheels, enjoy hoops,balls, spinning tops and often ride round and round the play area in the garden.  They may enjoy kaleidoscopes. A child may distribute and collect objects to and from a person or place; spend time joining the train tracks together; stick masking tape from across form the table to the chair; enjoy woodwork, tubes and funnels in water play; kites, and pull along toys. Children develop technology skills, managing tools, and estimating size and space. Conceps of cause and effect, time and sequencing are developed.

Positioning- A child may put things on their head; prefer their custard next to their sponge not over it; lie on the floor or under the table. This schema is often associated with "enveloping". Children fill bags, prams, wheelbarrows,(enveloping) then transport them to another part of the room. They may describe their play as "going on holiday" or " having a pinic".

Transforming- A child may add juice to their mashed potato; sand to the water tray; enjoy adding colour to cornflour or making dough.

"Girls are so much more likely to show enclosing and enveloping schemas; strong trajectory schemas seem to be far more often displayed by boys. Taking anatomy into account, perhaps this is hardly surprising. Does this go a little way towards explaining how determined boys and girls sometimes are to play with "boys" and "girls" toys? Is this why it feels like a losing battle to encourage boys to use the home corner (so full of enclosing and enveloping play), and to make sure the often uninterested girls get their fair share of the trajectory bikes? " Rosemary Roberts

Once you know your child's schema, you can use that knowledge to select activities and experiences which will engage and challenge them.



Here are some great links to more, in depth (and intellectual!) information on schema.

Schema Theory

A useful PDF on developing play in different areas through schema
Ideas for developing schema