Knowing when to intervene is probably the most essential skill an early years practitioner needs, especially given the fundamental role of free-flowing play in children's personal, social, emotional and intellectual development and the need for children to feel in control of their play.
Taking issues of gender into account can also dramatically affect the quality of a practitioner's input (see page 19).
Strike a balance
To develop a sense of when to intervene, early years team members need to collaborate and support each other. It is important that settings agree policies on intervention, yet at the same time foster an environment where responses can be flexible enough to meet individual children's needs.
Practitioners need to share their observations, to form assessments on children and to consider their own interventions and responses to situations and learning opportunities.
Progression of play
Consider whether suppressing all 'superhero' play means giving negative and proscriptive responses to children's dramatic play. It is possible to allow such play while maintaining clear boundaries with regard to aggressive behaviour that intimidates others, for example, contact fighting and pointing weapons at people.
Observe and analyse the play and judge carefully when children need to move on from imitative 'posing' play to free-flowing imaginative scenarios that allow them to explore personal needs and concerns in an open-ended way. Do not assume that intervention will always be needed.
Adopt a role
The best form of intervention often involves the adult adopting a role, perhaps even as a 'baddie'. In so doing, practitioners can:
* legitimise play that was previously covert
* introduce less polarised points of view, instead of girls=victims, boys=heroes
* model alternative action, such as negotiation
* contain the play more effectively when it threatens to become too disruptive or physically dangerous to others, without undermining children's control of the play
* lead the 'players' into a safer part of the setting or somewhere where there is less likelihood of disruption to others, while introducing ways of getting there other than running!
* broaden the children's physical and imaginative vocabulary.
