Facilitating play

Prepared by -Estose, Tabor

What is facilitating play?

Play facilitation is the

science and art of fuelling

children's engaged learning

in play.
Here are simple ways on

how to facilitate children

in play
Focus on the process (rather than the goal) of play. Ask

exploratory questions that help extend the child’s play.

Elaborate and build on children’s play or interests. Make

comments, offer new and varied materials.

Reflect the emotions children express in their play and

actions. This labels and validates children’s feelings.

Define the problem. Help children learn negotiation skills.

Encourage them to think about alternatives.

Provide varied materials to encourage exploration and

play.
Provide open-ended materials for play.

 Supportive attitudes

Active Adventurous and risky Communicative

Enjoyable Voluntary Involved Meaningful

Sociable and interactive Symbolic Therapeutic

Supportive roles
STAGE MANAGER

Stage manager- provides essential

elements for play

materials
equipment
space
time
 Observer

Observation in childcare involves

being attuned to the child through

listening and watching as they play,

learn and explore.

Mediator and protector
Children's learning is most

productive when they feel safe.

Teacher's may need to take a

roles as protector and mediator

in order for things to move

smoothly and and safely in their

classroom.
A protector encourage safe and

respectful play.
Participant

It is important for a teacher to get down

on the students level and participate in

activities that are child led.This teaches

children that playing is an acceptable

and positive behavior.

 Tutor
Not all children fully develop play

skills naturally. Tutoring help

children develop these skills by

modeling the behavior the child is

lacking .It also allows the teacher to

teach skills to children who do not

possess these skills on their own.

Play and learning in outdoor

environments
 The principles of playing and

learning in outdoor environment

Outdoor natural play environments should provide a blend of natural areas, environmental

features and plants to interest children in learning about nature and its elements. Important

features include unstructured spaces and activities for creative learning and spontaneous play.

Natural environments provide opportunities for children to understand and respect the natural

environment and the interdependence between plants, people, animals and the land. Being

outdoors, especially in natural outdoor learning environments, provides the opportunity for

open-ended interactions, spontaneity, exploration, discovery, risk-taking, and connection with

nature. In outdoor settings, children generally move more, sit less and engage in play for more

sustained periods. Depending on the location and design of the outdoor environment, they

potentially have more space and freedom for large and loud movement play. They engage in

more moderate to vigorous physical activity, have greater opportunities to gain mastery over a

wide range of gross and fine motor skills, and develop better motor co-ordination.
The special

role of
Playing outside gives your child the chance to explore

the natural environment and have adventures. Your

outdoor
child can play games, test their physical limits, express

themselves and build their self-confidence. Outdoor

play play can also mean more mess – and more mess often

means more fun! allows children to develop self-

confidence, independence and self-esteem. They also

become aware of limits, boundaries and challenges in

their play. When children are used to playing outdoors,

they are more likely to: try new activities.

 The concept of affordance in

outdoor spaces

Affordances within the environment are dynamic and unique to each person, and

vary in response to the individual’s changing size, strength, capabilities and

motivation. Children will perceive what they can do in the environment in relation to

their individual characteristics. Hence, the same feature of the environment will

afford different behaviours for different individuals or in different contexts3. For

example, a small tree might afford climbing for a young child but not for a large

adult. Likewise, a tree may afford shelter in summer but not in winter when its

branches are bare or allow children to collect the fallen leaves in autumn.
 Affordances that support play-based learning in the outdoor environment, various factors may influence

the design of the environment depending on whether it has been intentionally designed from the outset

as a space for children’s play and learning or has been adapted (and potentially constrained) to fit within

an environment not originally intended for children.The theory of affordances (Gibson, 2014) offers a

framework for considering the child-environment interaction since this theory concerns the individual's

perception of the environment. Affordance is defined as what the environment offers the individual and

what it provides or furnishes, either good or ill (Gibson, 2014). Affordance includes both the environment

and the child, meaning the affordance is unique and relative for each individual. An affordance emerges

from the interaction between the child and the environment, an interaction that is immediate, as

affordances are perceived directly in a natural flow of activity (Heft, 1989, 2003). The perception of

affordance is influenced by the child's intentions, previous experiences and the context. Because of the

dynamic and contextual considerations for affordance, Heft (2003) emphasises that affordances are not a

fixed functional property of a feature, rather they are a dynamic entity in the ongoing person and

environment process. Affordance may therefore be suitable for studying the interaction between the

child and the environment in a dynamic and context-dependent reality.

Affordance has previously been applied to research on how children utilise the outdoor ECEC

environment. Such study has demonstrated how both physical and social affordances influence children's

physical activity levels (Bjørgen, 2016), how different places afford different activities.
 Developing strategies for

working with children to manage

risks and hazards

Lay is essential for children to develop resiliency and risk management skills that

support them in adulthood. The challenge is to recognize the balance between

children’s engagement in beneficial risk coupled with avoidance of hazards and

danger.1 In this briefing, risks and hazards are defined, strategies to balance risks and

hazards are identified, and the need for risky but hazardless playgrounds is discussed.

Play scholars and activists define a hazard as a danger in the environment that could

seriously injure or endanger a child and is beyond the child’s capacity to recognize.8-12

Risk is then defined as the challenges and uncertainties within the environment that a

child can recognize and learn to manage by choosing to encounter them while

determining their own limits.

By combining this equation with the definitions of risk and hazard, it is reasonable that adults

should reduce the number and magnitude of hazards of which a child might be unaware by

creating safeguards; while leaving elements of risk or challenge for the child to

navigate.Allowing children to experience the uncertainty that comes with engaging in

challenging play positively influences their emotional reactions, physical capabilities, coping

skills, and capacity to manage adversity.10,13,15 As they grow older, children who can

master risky situations are less dependent on adults to manage hazards for them,16 and help

them safely and confidently navigate the world around them as they transition into

adulthood.In addition, a thoughtful justification for why some risks are acceptable can be the

foundation of a legal defense, should injury occur.6 Canadian courts understand that

children are developing their responsibility to be aware of their surroundings, and that there

is a difference between hidden risks (i.e., hazards) and visible risks that children can and

should identify on their own. The legal system allows for a differentiation between an

unkempt playspace that results in injury, and collisions and falls that are the result of

enthusiastic children engaging in challenging play. The reality of a reasonable court system

runs counter to the fears of schools and municipalities and should reduce the worry of

lawsuits.18 The attitude of Canadian courts also suggests that there is room for encouraging

beneficial risk or challenge in play spaces. While the legal system has yet to explicitly codify

the developmental benefits of risks or challenges, the common-sense practice of ‘kids will be

kids, and accidents happen’ still seems to be present.

Thank You For Listening!