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Tune into children's curiosity and let them guide the play

Be flexible

Introducing the children to a world beyond home while for example, doing a place walk and giving the children the opportunity to make their own collection of materials of interest, drawing attention on watching the clouds or falling leaves, listening to the sound around them, smelling and tasting different fruits

Bringing more provocations in the room such as a sand tub, a fish tank or bottles with colored water.

Creating a flexible, relationship driven learning environment

Nurturing curiosity, creating intrigue and wonder by hiding some objects in the sand pit or in the water tub for the children to explore and discover by themselves.

See children as capable and involved learners regardless of their age

Embedding enchanting sensory spaces  such as a farm corner or a 'roar' world with new materials such as soil and small tree logs

Engaging in sensory based materials impact children's holistic development as children develop dispositions for learning, they feel a sense of wellbeing as they pursue their own interests and ideas, they develop their fine motor skills by using their fingers and hands but also their gross motor skills while crawling and walking to get materials of interest. Also, children's communication skills are supported through sensory play.

Overall, embedding sensory based materials and play is a valuable way of engaging children actively in activities that heighten their senses and enrich their learning and support their holistic development.

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                     My Curiosity spies, touches and feels...

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                     My Curiosity spies, touches and feels...

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How does engaging in sensory based materials impact children's holistic development?    

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How does engaging in sensory based materials impact children's holistic development?    

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S4626305

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Australia Government Department of Education and Training, Belonging, Being & Becoming, The Early Years Learning Framework For Australia, Department of Education and Training, Australia, viewed 07 August 2020, < https://www.acecqa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2018-02/belonging_being_and_becoming_the_early_years_learning_framework_for_australia.pdf>.

Centre for Learning Innovation 2006, A basic introduction to child development theories, New South Wales Department of Education and Training, viewed 08 August 2020, <http://lrrpublic.cli.det.nsw.edu.au/lrrSecure/Sites/LRRView/7401/documents/theories_outline.pdf>.

Department of Education and Training 2016, Victorian Early Years Learning And Development Framework, Department of Education and Training, Melbourne, viewed 09 August 2020, <https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/childhood/providers/edcare/veyldframework.pdf>.

Early Childhood Australia 2012, ‘What have theories got to do with it?’, National Quality Standard Professional Learning Program e-Newsletter, vol.31, Early Childhood Australia, p.1-4, viewed 8 August 2020, <https://www.ecrh.edu.au/docs/default-source/resources/nqs-plp-e-newsletters/nqs-plp-e-newsletter-no-31-2012-what-have-theories-got-to-do-with-it.pdf?sfvrsn=4%3E>.

Gardner, Howard (1999) Intelligence Reframed. Multiple intelligences for the 21st century, New York: Basic Books. 292 pages. Useful review of Gardner’s theory and discussion of issues and additions.

National Association for the Education of Young Children, Inspired by Reggio Emilia: Emergent Curriculum in Relationship-Driven Learning Environments, NAEYC, Washington, viewed 15 September 2020, <https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/nov2015/emergentcurriculum#:~:text=The%20third%20teacher%20is%20the,and%20environment%20that%20ignites%20learning>.

Nolan, A & Raban-Bisby, B 2015, ‘Theories and perspectives’, Theories into practice: understanding and rethinking our work with young children and the EYLF, Teaching Solutions, Blairgowrie, VIC, p. 5-14.

Yorganop 2016, Theories and theorists in early childhood: who they are and what they tell us? ideas for practice, Yorganop, Perth, WA, viewed 08 August 2020, http://web.archive.org/web/20180316184334/http://ipsuwa.yorganop.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/combined-theorists-resource.pdf>.

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For the children to use their sensory capabilities and dispositions with increasing skill, integration and purpose to explore and respond to their world

For the children to explore freely and make their own meaning and begin to make sense of the world around them

For the children to engage in increasingly complex sensory-motor skills experiences

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How can I bring provocations, stimulate curiosity and heighten senses detective?

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How can I bring provocations, stimulate curiosity and heighten senses detective?

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Strategies for an effective learning and development should be implemented to support children. This can be done by:

Providing a wide variety of open-ended materials and resources

Children need environmental stimuli full of everyday resources including natural materials and authentic experiences to trigger their curiosity and awaken their senses. Making loose parts and natural materials available for free exploration, will help children to build their knowledge and understanding of the world around them and develop their language skills. Sensory play will boost their curiosity, self-discovery and motor skills; presenting new materials or object will enhance learning and development  as children will search creative ways to explore more about the materials and themselves during sensory play.
The provision of sensory materials both indoor and outdoor such as clay, play dough, water play and sand will offer children the opportunity for hands-on, self-directed and learning opportunities. Engaging with natural materials allows sensory experiences and are provocations for learning. In my teaching, I will embrace developmentally appropriate practices while creating learning environments filled with hand-on, concrete materials full of intention that encourage exploration, manipulation, discovery and active engagement of children.

Extending and provoking children's thinking

Questions can be asked to the young children or vocabulary words can be included to describe for example the wooden stick such a 'thin' and 'light'. Extending their scientific thinking about what materials 'disappear' or 'sink' in water or even talking about the textures of materials, 'is the pebble stone rough or smooth?'

Being flexible and seeing the young children as capable

Children are sensorial explorers and capable to pursue their own interest and create their own meaning. They need time to try things and explore while looking around, identifying different sound or even touching and feeling things.

Creating an interesting and stimulating environment

By introducing gradually meaningful resources or experiences that feature new colors, shapes, sounds and textures, children are impacted positively in terms of development. Moreover, as children are not passive learners, I should avoid keeping children in restrictive devices such as a pram or swing that prevent active exploration, learning,  and development through their senses. Sensory areas full of stimulating materials help children in developing their cognitive skills and to self-regulate while being focus in what they are doing.

Working in collaboration with children while actively listening

Finding the extraordinary in everyday moments

Making learning visible and promoting positive reinforcement

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In parallel, Montessori (1984), believes that children learn best through sensory experiences and in her theory, hands-on sensory experiences are regarded as the vehicle for knowledge construction; while adding materials in the water, meaningful learning and connections were made on further thinking of what is happening to the gum nut or timber. The sensorial explorers were exploring the spaces and materials through their senses while looking at things, touching, grabbing, hearing the noise of the banging sound and movement while walking and crawling. Things that they see, caught their attention and then they moved to their place of interest and explore by manipulating with their hands. Montessori posits that “the senses, being explorers of the world, open the way to knowledge. Our apparatus for educating the senses offers the child a key to guide his explorations of the world…”, (Montessori, M. (1988). The Absorbent Mind. Oxford: Clio Press. p.167).

Moreover, the children were engaging with stone, sand, wooden sticks and water, etc. in the learning space; this highlights the foundational values of the Reggio Emilia approach where sensorial provocations are dominant in the learning environment by the presence of the natural materials. The environment is the third teacher as children are developing imaginative thinking (cake and candles), they are pursuing their own interest and they are learning textures while manipulating natural materials. Malaguzzi (1920 -1994) posits that “it was not so much that we need to think of the child who develops himself by himself but rather of a child who develops himself interacting and developing with others” (Rankin 2004, p.82); an authentic relationship was created with nature and the capable and involved learners were discovering natural materials which were inspirations that compel them to use their senses, think further and experiment with enthusiasm.

The children were offered learning possibilities while actively engaging in sensorial exploration and according to the behaviourist theory, Skinner (1904- 1990) and Bandura (1925), learning is ongoing and regular and the environment determines the children’s holistic development and learning.

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In the theory of play, Piaget (1952) states that play involves a systematic process of learning through stages. In his research, he also proposed that children need environmental stimuli such as open-ended materials and experiences to guide their cognitive development and for ‘concrete learning’. In essence, Piaget argued that sensory play is the key to children’s brain development as those experiences stimulate the senses and strengthen the reasoning which is essential for learning. Through sensory play in the sand pit, the farm corner and the basketball area, the young children were offered opportunities to digest new knowledge by experimenting new textures of pebble stone or by leading the sensory play while adding materials that spark curiosity and by experiencing tactile sensory play in making a birthday cake with sand. The sensorial play has assisted the children in developing their knowledge and understanding of the world around them and has enhanced their communication skills, verbally and non-verbally.

The cognitive development of children is fostered as those children have an innate curiosity to explore the world using their senses while looking around, touching, and grabbing materials or even banging toy for auditory sensory play. The above play experiences are sense based and encourage the infant and toddlers’ active involvement which makes the play meaningful to them as they remain interested, enthusiastic and persisted. While picking sand, wooden stick, timber and pebble stone, children’s cognitive development is supported as they have experienced various sensations such as smooth, rough, full, or empty. Their eye and hand coordination, muscle strength and agility support their fine and gross motor skills while crawling, walking, and manipulating objects.
The pebble stone in the farm corner was a new object or material that the child has explored and has boosted his creativity and self-discovery when he confidently and independently made the decision of banging the toy on the stone.

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During my placement, my attention was drawn on the free sensory play and exploration of children. At multiple occasion (24th August and 27th August 2020), the young children were exploring the materials that have triggered their curiosity. While recording some observations, I have witnessed how children were exploring the world and how they were showing dispositions for learning through the use of their senses while their little curious eyes were exploring and their hands were touching which brings a celebration of feeling of different textures such as sand, wooden stick, pebble stone, gum nut and water. The children were directing their own play and they were pursuing their own interests by choosing the materials that they wanted and the play space. They were driving the imaginative play while stirring the natural 'ingredients' in the basketball stand or even when pretending to celebrate a birthday with a pretend sand cake and candles.

The sensory play was present throughout those ordinary moments as the children were manipulating materials and resources, they were using their sight to look around and moved physically to pick the materials of interest such as wooden stick or pebble stone. The capable children have been exploring the sound by banging a toy on the pebble stone at the farm corner or by making the 'fffffffffffffffffffffffffffff' sound for blowing the candles in the sand pit.

Those extraordinary moments have piqued my interest as the play seems to be simple but pedagogically rich as children get the opportunity to develop a range of skills while resourcing their own learning through connecting with place and natural materials and discovering things about themselves. In their early years of development, the children were engaging in sensory based materials and were active constructors of their own understanding and meaning through sensorial exploration.

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                                          An Authentic Cooking Experience                                                                Child : Axel                  Age: 2 years old                                 Date: 27th August 2020           Educator: Angie          Setting: Outdoor play (sand pit)     Time  : 11:40 a.m. 

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                                          An Authentic Cooking Experience                                                                Child : Axel                  Age: 2 years old                                 Date: 27th August 2020           Educator: Angie          Setting: Outdoor play (sand pit)     Time  : 11:40 a.m. 

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| Axel climbed in the sand pit and walked to the green plastic cup and grabbed it. He then looked at me and smiled. He sat on his bottom and using his hand, he scooped some portions of sand and start filling the cup. After that, he clutched a small spade and dug for some more sand. Once the cup was almost full of sand, he exclaimed ‘yayyyy’ while looking at me with a grin on his face.
Axel placed the cup on the wooden edge of the sand pit and climbed off. He walked to the grass area where he was collecting some thin twigs and soon after, he was heading back to the sand pit. He put the twigs in the cup full of sand and stretched it to me while making a ‘‘fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff’ sound.  I stepped in the play by blowing the pretend candles and he laughed and said: ‘hip hip hooray!’ He then left the cup with me and walked to the cars.

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                                                My Curious little fingers are exploring                                                                  Child: Kaiden                     Age: 1.8 years old                                      Date: 24th August 2020              Educator:  Angie        Setting: Outdoor (in the stand of the basketball)     Time  : 5:10 p.m.  

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                                                My Curious little fingers are exploring                                                                  Child: Kaiden                     Age: 1.8 years old                                      Date: 24th August 2020              Educator:  Angie        Setting: Outdoor (in the stand of the basketball)     Time  : 5:10 p.m.  

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Kaiden was playing basketball when suddenly, he noticed that the stand of the child-size basketball has a whole full of rain water. He dropped the ball and sat at the bottom of the stand. Using his right hand, he touched the water and rubbed the sand that it contains. After that, he grasped some natural materials that he has found next to the grass and dropped them in the water.

He looked at one of his peers and smiled. He grabbed timber flakes and some gum nuts with his fingers and added them to the water.

His peer was watching him when he quickly walked to the grass and bowed on his knees. He picked a thin stick and walked back quickly to the basketball stand. He used the thin stick to mix the natural materials he has added to the water.

When his parent came to pick him, Kaiden gave the stick to his peer and said:
‘taaaaaaa’, with a smile on his face.

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                                                  A crawling visit to the Farm                                                            Child: Jerry                   Age:10 months                             Date: 27th August 2020    Educator: Angie           Setting: Indoor (Farm corner)     Time  : 08:54 a.m.   

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                                                  A crawling visit to the Farm                                                            Child: Jerry                   Age:10 months                             Date: 27th August 2020    Educator: Angie           Setting: Indoor (Farm corner)     Time  : 08:54 a.m.   

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Jerry was playing with some soft toys on the mat. His eyes were fixing the farm corner when he suddenly crawled slowly towards the farm. He was still holding a yellow toy in his right hand and once he has reached the farm corner, he smiled. He was on his tummy and stretched his left arm to reach the green mat.

He then looked at me with his mouth wide open and I smile at him. After that, he looked back at the farm corner and with a good grip, he took one of the pebble stone using his left hand. Jerry lifted the pebble stone a bit higher and looked at it while babbling.

Afterwards, he glanced at me and with a rapid move of his left arm, he was about to put the pebble stone in his mouth.

‘Not in the mouth’, I said to Jerry.

He then put the pebble stone back on the green mat and banged the yellow toy which was in his right hand on the pebble stone. Jerry turned around and crawled back to the rubber tyre full of soft toys.

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                                                           A place walk to my onsite learning space

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                                                           A place walk to my onsite learning space

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My placement was done at Keysborough Freedom Club, a small centre with an average number of 25 children. The learning and holistic development of children are supported by free child directed experiences and exploration and the children's interests are supported.

During my placement, I had the opportunity to interact and build relationship with children of 10 months to 2 years old. An inclusive and supportive environment was created where I have been able to address the purpose of the learning by:

Responding to children's needs

Identifying their play cues

Questioning

Recording some observations

Doing some planning while implementing learning experiences and learning intentions

Reflecting

Bringing modifications when needed.

The pedagogical journey has last for 15 days and was rich in gaining new skills such as identifying and responding to non-verbal play cues and the sharing of knowledge, skills and ideas; it was an opportunity for me to develop more dispositions for learning such as confidence, enthusiasm and persistence.

Documented by Angie Neelaya Argendra

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For privacy reasons, I have changed the name of the children!

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For privacy reasons, I have changed the name of the children!

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                  Acknowledgement to Country

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                  Acknowledgement to Country

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I respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the Land on which I stand and I pay my respect to the first peoples across Victoria and Australia.

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                                                                                     Learning outcomes (VEYLDF)

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                                                                                     Learning outcomes (VEYLDF)