What are They Learning
Seeing the concepts and skills children can learn through play

One of the skills that a child care professional develops is being a good observer of children. By watching and listening as children play, we can see what skills and abilities they are just beginning to learn. Once we know where they are in the learning of new ideas and skills, we can support children as they practice this new understanding.

The first step in helping children as they learn new things is to know what learning looks like in young children's play. The second step is to take the time to watch and take note of the children in your care with the questions in your mind, "What is it they might be learning right now?" and "What other activities will give them a chance to practice what they're learning?"

This article will give you a good starting place as you look for clues to children's thinking and learning. You'll find two parts: Part I is a chart that gives examples of concepts and skills that children can learn through play. Part II provides some ideas for you to use as you make your own observations of children playing.

PART I: What does Learning Look Like in Children's Play?

Although children learn new ideas and skills in nearly every kind of play and activity, for this exercise, we'll focus on children's pretend/dramatic play. Most child care settings offer a housekeeping area where children can pretend to play house and take on the roles that are so familiar to them. [If you haven't tried creating an area like this in your program, do! It's a terrific place for children to use their imaginations, practice their social skills, try out their understanding of concepts like counting and sorting - there's just no end to the learning and fun!]

This chart gives examples of what you might see a child doing in the "house" and what skill or concept might be developing through that activity. Within each age group, examples are given for six different areas of children's development: mathematical thinking, language development, emotional development, social development, small muscle development and large muscle development.

PART II: CHARTING YOUR OWN OBSERVATIONS

Click here for a chart that you can download and use to make your own observations of children at play. You may want to start with watching the children while they are playing house. Based on what you see, you can determine what they might be learning. Then you can support the child's new skill or understanding by planning to offer other activities or materials that will use the same skill or emphasize the same concept. Later, you may want to use the chart to observe children while they are playing in other areas or with other materials, such as playing outdoors or using art materials.

To make the best use of your observations, follow three steps and answer three questions:

• WATCH: What is the child doing?
• THINK: What is the child practicing or trying to understand?
• PLAN: What other ways could this child practice this skill or use this concept?

Example:

WATCH: 2 1/2 -yr.-old Nicholas is looking in the play refrigerator. He takes out the food items and boxes one at a time and talks to himself about the food. Sometimes he says the name of the food and sometimes he doesn't.

THINK: One thing Nicholas is doing is learning the names for different foods. He has learned the idea that everything has a name and now he is adding names of familiar things to his vocabulary.

PLAN: A snack activity would give Nicholas another opportunity to practice using food names. Making fruit kabobs with familiar fruits would give the caregiver an opportunity to talk to Nicholas about foods and their names while he is doing something that is fun and is a part of his routine (eating a snack).

Reprinted with permission from National Network for Child Care - NNCC. Reschke, K. (1999).What are they learning?: Seeing the concepts and skills children can learn through play.