In some settings, particularly reception classes, learning is associated with children seated at a table, when, in fact, the floor can be a much more productive place to learn.
Floor play is important to children. From birth, they explore most freely when placed on a floor mat, where they can stretch, roll and crawl, uninhibited as they are in car seats or high chairs.
On the floor, the potential of what can occur in the space is greater and more open-ended. Children can really spread out. They can extend their play on a big scale. It can expand round the corner, or under the table. As a context for learning, the floor is one that many children prefer.
Some activities are best done at a table, but much of what we offer on table surfaces would work better on the floor. A table can restrict the play. It can require a child to sit and be more passive. It can limit how the play develops.
If you have lots of tables in your setting, consider stacking away the chairs sometimes so that the children can stand at the table. Some settings stack the chairs alongside the table areas so that the children can use a chair if they want to, so giving them a say about how they use the space.
Big and small
Floor spaces can be big or small, inside or outside. Some settings start the day with the children seated in a group on the carpet, a routine that requires a lot of empty space and leaves much space unused when the children go off to 'choose'.
Maximising the use of this space is particularly important. Some settings provide smaller mats rolled up in a box for the children to access independently. Such an approach:
- enables the children to create their own defined floor spaces, large or small
- can change the way that that the children play
- contributes to focused, sustained exploration.
Smaller floor spaces are also important. Those created and protected by furniture when indoors, or natural landmarks when outdoors, allow children to engage deeply in their play, free from any distracting flow of 'traffic' by others.
Adult support
Staff in early years settings are often seen sitting at a table engaged in a focused activity, or gravitating towards the table to support the learning that is taking place in that area.
Such behaviour can reinforce the perception among children that learning or 'work' only occurs when they sit with 'miss' at the table. Yet so much rich experimentation and real learning goes on for many children, boys especially, on the floor.
Practitioners need to recognise the floor as an important and preferred context for learning for some children, and they will find it easy to create floor learning spaces and to make them inviting, comfy and flexible. But practitioners also need to join children on the floor, to observe and engage with their explorations and note how they differ from table-based play.
ASK YOURSELF
- Which children prefer using floor spaces?
- How do they use them and why?
- Do you let children create their own floor spaces? Why or why not?
- Do you acknowledge the importance of floor spaces by sometimes getting
down on the floor yourself and engaging with the children?
- In your setting, how does children's floor play differ from table-top
play?
Part 3, 'Soft spaces' is published on 31 July
- Elizabeth Jarman specialises in developing effective learning environments. See www.elizabethjarmanltd.co.uk
REFLECTING ON PRACTICE
To make the most of this series:
- Photograph areas of your setting when empty and in use.
- Ask yourself: When, how and why do the children use (or avoid) a certain area in your setting? How does this area look, sound and feel to the child?
- Record your observations, thoughts and ideas in a journal and discuss them with your staff team.
- Ask yourself: Do 'adult ideas' about an area restrict how children should there?
- Reflect on your findings and possible changes to improve your nursery environment.
- Monitor the effects of any changes made through photographs, discussions with staff and consulting the children
CASE STUDY: CRESCENT PRIMARY SCHOOL, NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
Recently, EYFS co-ordinator Kerri Baker had to deal with a group of boys whose limited language and few social skills caused them to behave very aggressively.
'We observed the group and watched them closely,' she says. 'We were desperate to find a way to tune in to their interests. We felt we needed a breakthrough, as we seemed to be constantly dealing with arguments.
'The boys loved playing with the dinosaurs we have. But the level of play was always aggressive, with the dinosaurs being hurled up in the air and made to attack each other. We wanted to recognise the physical needs of this group but also to channel their interest and support their language skills.
'The dinosaurs were often set up on a table. We decided to really develop a defined floor space to set the scene for this play. We made a dark corner, blacked out the windows and added fibre-optic lights. We used Mod Roc and old boxes in a Tuff Spot builder's tray and then painted it so it looked like a dinosaur kingdom. We added reptile textured materials and then the dinosaurs.
'We then played alongside the group, on the floor. We modelled new language as we played. We then stepped back and observed a real change in the boys' behaviour. They were using the language we had given them. They were using comparative language. They were noticeably more engaged - in fact, they would sprawl out on the floor and would be completely engrossed in their play and imaginary worlds.
'Some of the language that was recorded from their play was:
"This is the mummy dinosaur and the baby. She is digging in the sand. She is laying eggs."
"My dinosaur is a roary dinosaur but he's not nasty. He's kind. He's hungry. What can he eat? Yum, yum".'
MORE INFORMATION
- The 'A Place to Talk' series - In Children's Centres, In Extended Schools, In Pack-Away Settings and In Pre-schools - is available from www.elizabethjarmanltd.co.uk/store at £6.49 each, packed with ideas to create different sorts of learning spaces
- PLAY+SOFT create safe, stimulating and flexible environments for children to explore and enjoy. Visit www.feelgood-designs.com/
LINKS TO EYFS GUIDANCE
- EE 3.3 The Learning Environment
- L&D 4.1 Play and Exploration
- L&D 4.2 Active Learning
