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Four and Five year old Sky and Anna are playing in the willow tunnel with some plants, flower petals and pots and watering cans. They start an imaginative game and others join in. There are some disagreements.

Good for looking at

• Pretend play
• Socialising
• Emotional development
• Solving conflict
• Imagination
• Play with objects
• Creativity
• Creating narratives

Four and Five year old Sky and Anna are playing in the willow tunnel with some plants, flower petals and pots and watering cans. They start an imaginative game and others join in.

Notice

• What strategies do the children use to deal with conflict?
• How are the children learning? Which areas of development, engagement and characteristics of learning can you observe?
• How does the environment support the children’s learning
• What is valuable about the materials they have available?

Reflect

What are your thoughts about:

• How and what the children are learning?
• The role of the adult in this interaction – how did she support the children?
• The value of the environment and materials used in this play interaction?

Respond

What would you do to:

• Encourage children to come up with their own strategies for solving conflicts? Do you allow enough time for them to come up with their own ideas?
• Allow children plenty of time to develop pretend play scenarios and build up their own worlds?

What next:

• Do you need to allow children to solve conflicts on their own in your setting? Do you know when to offer support and when to stand back?
• Do you offer enough spaces for children to develop their own worlds i.e. bushes, dens, play houses etc.
• Do you offer enough open ended materials for children?