Facilitating Creative Play
There are many approaches to play. This article explores those that are developmentally appropriate for children from toddlers through TK, highlighting what is appropriate at each stage and the educator’s role in supporting and facilitating play.
Open-ended play refers to educators setting up a classroom or outside environment with materials that reflect the interests and cognitive and physical development of the children in the group. It may also reflect seasons, holidays celebrated by the class, families, current events that children may be curious about and reflects the school values and philosophy.
The educator observes as the children play to see what they are doing with the materials, what the social interaction is around materials and then can add additional items that may scaffold children’s thinking or physical abilities to a different level. Often the educator will engage with children by using wonder questions like “I wonder what your idea was when you…etc.” to draw out their knowledge or see if they can add a helpful prop to the play. It is important that the educator does not give judgement statements to children, only extends their knowledge and validates their thinking. The play stays genuinely the children's, without adult ideas about what it should include or where it should go.
There is a fine line between wanting to “teach something” and setting up the atmosphere for children to learn on their own. There, the educator’s job is to be interested, point out what children are learning and support the process. We know that children learn by doing. We can encourage their sense of wonder. Encourage them to try new things and see for themselves what happens. We can have fruitful conversations about expectations and talk about what went how they expected, and what did not. We can gently clarify for them until they learn to do it for themselves. We can help them to practice asking: And then what? How can I do it differently? What might happen if?
Let’s talk a bit about what is developmentally appropriate for these age groups. A Toddler who’s first experience in a social setting will have very different needs than a social four-year-old. Toddlers move in a sensorial world. They are first learning words and the educator's job is to teach the language, to match words to what they are feeling, seeing, touching, hearing and tasting. They are exploring the physical world, the reality of pouring sand, figuring out what happens when you throw a ball. They are watching what larger people are doing and trying it out for themselves. Have you ever watched a Toddler pick up a Ukulele after hearing you play it at circle time? They are becoming aware that they can control their bodies. We facilitate lots of tactile experiences for them. Socially they are learning that others have feelings and how to separate their feelings from others.
As a child enters the 3rd year, they are exploding with words. They want to label everything. They now have words to express their curiosity and have lots of questions. Books become very important sources and so is their friend Google. Our role as facilitator becomes being a resource to answer questions. More props are added to sand, water or tactile play. Children become interested in social play and we can facilitate that with costumes and props that promote dramatic play. A child may talk about a doctor’s office experience at the lunch table and there will be an explosion of interest. This can be a base for emergent curriculum and happens all the time. The educator’s job is to follow up with books, stories, science experiments as well as dramatic play props and costumes. Social learning involves working out how to take turns and share materials.
On a four-year-old level, this may launch a curriculum about bodies, learning the body’s systems, health related material or finding out more about what instruments are in a doctor’s office and what they are used for. I have drawn the digestive system with tape and children jumped it like hopscotch learning all the parts of the anatomy the food goes through until it is “pooped out”. Social learning may include exclusion/inclusion issues, territorial issues and appropriate use of language and materials, and expressing feelings in positive ways.
On the five-year-old level more facts are learned, children are in charge of creating environments and educators facilitate group thinking, planning and executing. Wonder questions about what will be needed, where we can find that, how we will do this together are part of everyday life. Social issues that come up provide practice in problem solving, working things out so everyone’s needs are met.
Another form of play, often found in early childhood programs, is when the educator engages in guided play. They select materials with a topic (unit) or purpose in mind. With guided play, the educator introduces a thought-out theme and selects specific or themed props to guide exploration in a particular area. An example would be setting up an area like a spaceship (that hopefully is done with children incorporating their ideas) and putting out space gear, books that talk about space and other props. Then the educator explores the theme of space with the children during circle time, puts out art activities like paint to create planets that are then strung into a mobile. They teach songs and may show a video of landing on the moon. The educator engages with the children to extend play or thinking as the children are playing.
Often, I see a combination of both kinds of play. And sometimes I see teachers who believe that just leaving the children to their own devices after the setup is done is the appropriate thing to do. They watch the children and make sure everyone is safe. They believe teaching is about circle time. That’s the place to “teach.” I have always felt it important to be present for children, to walk around the yard or classroom and observe who is playing with what, with whom and what are they talking about. I believe children enjoy an adult that is interested in what they are doing, just checking in. Seeing if there is anything a child might think would be helpful. Sharing a laugh or encouraging a new attempt at something is also helpful.
A word here about storage…yes, an important element is having materials readily available and accessible. Think about if children are building a fenced in area for the horses and you can’t get or find the box of horses. You are outside and the cowboy hats are somewhere in the storage unit in the basement. Everything is scattered on the floor of your shed, and you can't find the crayons anywhere. We all know that at the end of the day, clean up can be challenging. It takes time to think ahead to provide for what might come up, but at least having some of the basics is absolutely necessary. Changes in manipulatives, sand box equipment, art area materials and universal props are important!
The slippery slope is an educator taking over the play, possibly pushing the child to go in a direction they aren’t interested in going. How do you engage and be able to follow the child’s cues, support their ideas and learning? How do you get them engaged with others and gently step away? It’s important that we are not teachers, constantly engaged in teaching all the time, and can be good listeners and facilitators. Be sensitive to take our cues from the children in our care. This is another way to think about teaching.
This article is part of our Newsletter 2025 Issue 3. See all articles.
