Exploring the concept of school through small world play by Amy Burton
As we wave goodbye to yet another academic year (my goodness don’t they just seem to fly by?!), our thoughts begin to wonder to what the new school year may have in store for our little ones and how we can help prepare them, over the Summer holidays, for whatever may come next.
As a Primary School Teacher and most importantly a loving Mummy to an inquisitive nearly 6 year old son, I have really started to appreciate the power of play in its fullness over the last few years and how effective this can be alone, in aiding learning and development within both the home and school environments.
Lets face it, starting school can be a bit strange for our little ones and can continue to be a bit strange throughout the first few years of the new ‘school chapter’ our children begin to navigate through. The start of school life brings with it lots of change, learning and new experiences for us all. From the moment your little one steps into the classroom on their very first school day, they enter a whole new world of possibility. Here they begin to learn much more about the amazing world around them, they start to develop and form friendships and learn lots of new routines and expectations all in which can bring out a wealth of emotions and feelings.
Whilst school is a very exciting milestone indeed, it can also at times feel a little daunting! One amazing way you can help to expose your children to the world of school and what may lie ahead for them, from the comfort of your own home, is through ‘Small World’ play. This is something your little ones are most likely already choosing to do as part of their unstructured play at home, but when us adults get stuck in with them too, we can really see the benefit this type of play has to offer. Small world play enables us to begin to explore and navigate this new complex world together whilst having lots of fun at the same time too!
What is Small World play?
Small world play is the educational term coined for imaginative play, where your child plays alongside small props creating different imaginary environments in which they can act out various scenarios in.
This form of play is so much more than just an entertaining pastime for our little ones and is actually a fantastic way in which they can learn about, understand and navigate the world around them. When children engage in small world play, they are able to explore complex concepts such as the world of school, which in turn helps them to develop a deeper understanding of routine, social dynamics and the thoughts and feelings they may experience in the big wide world going forward.
What are the benefits of small world play?
Small world play has many benefits and is perfect for exploring what lies ahead with your little ones. All sorts of different scenarios can be played out together in a fun and safe environment. This play technique also naturally aids your child's development against all the areas of Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) goals too. The EYFS goals are in my opinion, the fundamental pillars to all future life learning, so if incorporated in to daily routine, small world play really is a win win all round! Let’s have a look at some of these focus areas below and the benefits this style of play has to offer.
Communication and language
Small world play enables your child to develop their communication and language skills as they navigate their way though the make believe scenario in front of them. It’s amazing to watch as our little ones, naturally control, narrate and respond to situations with their chosen mini characters, which in turn enables an expansion of their verbal vocabulary, promotes them to practice sentence construction and also helps them to develop their storytelling skills too!
If playing with others, small world play is a great opportunity to allow listening skills and comprehension understanding to be developed too. This type of play often involves listening to other peoples ideas and opinions which in turn enhances the ability to maintain attention, follow sequences and grasp the nuances of language used in different contexts – all of which are vital classroom skills!
Personal, social and emotional development
The imaginative element, which is at the core of small world play, encourages children to act out different interactions between their miniature characters. This enables relationship building skills to be developed as your child has a go at playing out different social scenarios right in front of their eyes. This imaginary play style promotes understanding of social roles and relationships, enables our children to practice empathy and promotes them to consider different character perspectives. To enhance the benefits from this type of play, adults can also bring to the table make believe scenarios in which your child would in real life find a little tricky, to help explore and develop understanding of these areas in a fun, safe play environment.
An example of a tricky scenario I have played out with my son through small world play, is turn taking during games with friends. We set up a game of pass the parcel with our chosen miniature characters and I as the adult, played the part of a character who got sad about having to wait their turn – this promoted a lovely discussion with my son though our characters over why its important to turn take and how not doing this has the potential to impact the feelings of others – it was a great learning opportunity and made this very tricky social scenario easy to explore and navigate together.
Physical development
Small world play involves moving and re-arranging small characters and objects around the play area. This basic play element alone, requires your child to have precision and control over the play pieces, which in turn enables your child to refine their fine motor skills. Fine motor skills are a crucial early skill to develop as this aids pencil control and writing a bit further down the line!
Lots of self care routines are naturally acted out as part of the play scenarios your child will explore, such as having a bath, brushing teeth, washing hands. All of these side elements of the play, actually aid an awareness and understanding of self care and physical development. All of which are very important elements to looking after your mind and body and foster very important daily routines which are brilliant to promote and foster with our young children.
It is worth noting that small world play can be used with any sets of characters and props, after all this is an imaginary world we are creating yourselves! My son and I have acted out school scenarios with sea creatures, farm animals and even mini vehicle sets and it really is a case of the world is your oyster! tickit have some really lovely small world play sets on offer so take a look on their website if you are looking for some inspiration.
Remember as long as your child is engaged, involved and most importantly having fun, complex scenarios, settings and emotions can all be explored and developed together through small world play. This with the added academic bonus of the development of the EYFS goals makes small world play a brilliant element to incorporate at home to aid your child's transition in to the exciting chapter of school life and what may lie beyond!
To conclude, small world play has the ability to have a really positive impact on your child's life! This is a perfect play style to encourage with your child at home and the benefits from this are reaped whether played alone or with others too.
Written by Amy Burton, Mother of a nearly 6 year old and Primary School Teacher.