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A Unique Child: Outdoors: Practice in pictures - Go with the flow

The characteristics of true free-flow play are observed by Anne O'Connor.

Yasmine (aged 18 months) is playing outside at nursery. It has been raining and there are lots of puddles and wet patches. She walks into a puddle and explores it by pushing the water around and picking out the leaves. She finds another puddle on the surface of a tray and pushes the water off, watching carefully where it lands on the ground.

She notices a wooden animal nearby and carefully examines it from all angles. She spots another one and does the same with that. When she sees there are more that are similar, though not identical, she seems to make the decision that they all belong together. Although they are quite tricky to handle, she carefully gathers them from round about her, lining them up in a row.

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