So let's take a look at what these patterns of play really are. These are called schemas. Schemas are basically urges that kids have that show up in their play. These urges are natural, necessary and not something kids can control. Here's the thing about these urges, kids are actually building their brain through these repeated behaviors. Understanding these schemas can help parents understand their child's behavior and support their development. It can also help parent redirect them when necessary.
Orientation
Kids who enjoy hanging upside down or climbing are building their orientation schema. This kind of play helps kids understand things from different points of view. Kids have to have the opportunity to view things from different heights and be upside down to build this understanding of orientation. Parents can give their child safe opportunities to climb and hang. Go to the playground. Allow your child to climb trees. Children will also enjoy using binoculars, telescopes or magnify glass. Kids may also enjoy exploring reflections using unbreakable hand held mirrors. The challenge of this schema is safety. Use redirection like, "you can't climb on this, but you can climb on this" or "this isn't a safe place to climb, we will go outside after lunch and you can climb."
Positioning
In our early childhood classrooms, we often see kids who like to line up toys. It might be cars or animals or even blocks. Some of us still carry this schema with us into adulthood. Some of us might organize our spice rack alphabetically or have our pencils lined up on our desk. Parents can help children build their understanding of positioning by providing groupings of similar toys (i.e., cars or animals) that their child can line up. Ask you child questions about how they are positioning their toys. The hard part of this schema is child can become very upset when their order is disrupted by someone. As parents we need to help them learn to manage their feelings when this happens.
Connection
Kids who are building their connection schema enjoy playing with toys like Legos or putting beads on a string or connecting train tracks together. Some other activities to offer your child are puzzles, opportunity to practice with buttons, zippers and snaps, small pieces of paper to tape together, Part of connection is also disconnection. Kids working on this schema have the urge to knock over towers even if they didn't build the tower.
Trajectory
This was definitely my son's schema. When he first became mobile, he didn't crawl. He sat on his bottom and swung his legs from side to side to scoot himself across the floor. Our joke was that he didn't crawl because he wouldn't have been able to hold a ball in each hand. He would throw one of the balls and then scoot after the ball. Kids working on this schema enjoy throwing things, kicking balls and dropping things. Have various items, like scarves, balls, bean bags or balloons, for your child to explore. Your child may also enjoy chasing bubbles, splatter painting or bowling. Now is a good time to put away breakable items and make sure you have plenty of soft balls available.
Rotation
Kids who have the urge to spin around or watch wheels on toy cars/trains move enjoy rotation. Involve your child in the kitchen by letting them stir ingredients, whisk eggs, and use a salad spinner to dry vegetables. Kids will also enjoy playing on a merry go round, spinning on chairs and drawing circles. Parents will want to child proof items that have knobs. These kids also like to remove lids from containers so make sure that dangerous items are out of reach.
Transforming
This urge is all about mixing things together. Your child may like to mix their food together. Kids will also enjoy mixing paints and getting things wet and letting them dry. Make sensory bottles so your child can watch items mix together. Have your child help you in the kitchen by mixing together ingredients for items like cookies or muffins. The obvious challenge to this schema is the mess. Parents can give their child small amounts of paints to mix on a plate or bowl.
Transporting
Does your child like to move things from place to place? If so, they are working on the transporting schema. Kids will enjoy gathering items to put into baskets and moving toys like boats in the bathtub. Now is a great time to introduce some easy chores like clearing unbreakable dishes from the table or helping load clothes into the washer and dryer. These kids will enjoy being sent on errands to put things away or bring you things. Have lots of containers your child can use to move items around. Parents may find it helpful to have fewer toys available to help minimize mess.
Enclosure & Enveloping
If your child enjoys building forts, hiding, putting toys in boxes or hiding them in containers or under things like sand, then they are working on enclosure skills. Parents can support these skills by playing hide and seek, giving your child different size boxes to play with, and playing in the sand with shovels. Keep essential items, like keys, out of reach your child since they like to hide things.
Here are a few take aways for parents to remember. Children can become hyper focused on a particular schema leading them repeatedly play the same way. This can become frustrating and tiring for parents. The key thing to remember is your child is building their brain. They are growing their understanding of the world by exploring again and again. Find ways to engage your child in a particular schema while finding ways to minimize frustration for you! And most importantly enjoy watching and playing with your child!
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