Magic me into a kitty cat Scroll to learning area

A group of two year olds are playing in the nursery garden with their key person. Isaiah has found a stick and wants it to be his want. A game of hide and seek turns into a pretend game. The group have been together at the setting for 10 months and are settled well.

Good for looking at

• Socialising
• Language & Communication
• PSED
• Pretend play
• Physical play
• Effective adult support

Notice

• What cues can you see that show what the children are interested in? (Look out for non-verbal and body language as well as spoken language)
• How are the children learning? Which areas of development, engagement and characteristics of learning can you observe?
• In what ways do the adults support the children’s learning?
• How does the environment support the children’s learning?

Reflect

What are your thoughts about:

• How the children were learning during their play?
• The areas of development you observed?
• Their level of development?
• The role of the adult in this interaction – how did she support the children?
• The value of this type of pretend and physical play for the children?

Respond

What would you do to:

• Support the children’s game?
• Encourage the children to cooperate as a group?
• Extend their learning – e.g. supplying other materials to develop the game further?
• Model behaviours for young children and show how useful they are?

What next:

• Do you need to encourage more of this kind of play and learning for the two year olds in your setting?
• Did you recognise any particular skills you have in particular areas of relating to and supporting children?
• Did you recognise any areas of practice that you could improve?
• What do you need to do next to put any thoughts you have had into practice?