Let's Play! - Schemas in Play (Part 2)

 

Schemas, in general, are experienced by children, as strong, repetitive urges, which makes it very difficult for them to stop throwing things, or jumping from heights no matter how much you ask them to! Some schemas last for a long time or reappear at different developmental stages and others may come and go. Schemas may not always appear one at a time or in a particular order. A child may develop one or many schemas together at the same time.

We looked at few schemas in the previous post. There are more schemas in that list and let's take a look at those.

Common Schemas for Play (continued)

Schema 5: Orientation/Orienteering

Children are often seen ‘liking’ to hang upside down or to get a view from under the bed or from on top of the table. Bending over and looking backwards from in between the legs is a very common ‘act’ displayed by toddlers and young children. What they are doing here is looking at the world from a different perspective, literally. As children grow older, it is this schema that helps build confidence in many physical activities and games, and they are able to anticipate another player’s move. 

As adults, we may not hang upside down or bend over to see something differently, because this Orienting schema from our early years have equipped our minds to see things from a different point of view.

Schema 6: Transporting

We have all seen little girls who love dolls. They like to push their doll along in a pram, or carry their doll ‘babies’ wherever they walk. Boys would probably fill up their toy trucks with smaller toys or even sticks and stones, to go dump them somewhere else. The transporting schema is not limited to these actions alone, but also includes carrying one or many things in their hands, bags, purses, etc. from one point to the other. Children exploring this schema might enjoy books with handles, pails and baskets, toy shopping carts and riding vehicles with storage capacity and the like. 

Choosing an image from our ‘pictures’ folder and attaching it (by either cut-paste, or simply by dragging it) to our email to someone, is a ‘grown-up’ example of the transportation schema.

 

Schema 7: Transforming

Transforming is, as the name suggests, all about combining two or more elements, or even taking away one among many items, to create something different or new. In the transforming schema, children aim at change. It can be change in form, size, texture or even appearance. For this very reason, sometimes this schema can become very annoying for parents, as you may find your child himself, or any other object at home, covered in a hard-to-clean material, say for example, paint!

Adequate exploration of this schema in childhood leads to a creative and analytical mind in later age.

Schema 8: Enveloping

Children in the Enveloping schema are found to be interested in ‘enveloping’ themselves, objects of interest, or a space. It is very closely related to the idea of containment. They have an urge to ‘envelop’ and be ‘enveloped’ completely, and you would always find them busy wrapping, covering, layering or even bandaging their toys. Making dens and tents with pillows and sheets is a common example of the enveloping schema play.

Here they are exploring how they and items feel when they are inside ‘something’. Will a toy still be in the box after they have put inside? Do they go ‘invisible’ to others when they hide under the sheet? Can they see from under the sheet when they are fully covered?

The understanding of the concepts of object permanence, opacity, transparency, etc have their roots in this play schema.

Schema 9: Enclosing

This schema is also sometimes referred to as ‘Containing’ schema and it is very similar to the Enveloping schema. However, it has its own unique character, which is that the Enclosing schema is all about creating boundaries. 

Examples would be adding boundaries to play areas e.g. fences around animals, adding borders to pictures, etc.  Enclosing is key to development of letter formation and drawing skills, and this is evident in the child’s ability differentiate between a ‘c’ and an ‘o’ while writing, and to place the eyes and mouth inside, and the hair and ears outside, while drawing a face.  By ‘enclosing’, children are learning that objects and ideas can be contained within a discrete space. They also learn that anything outside this boundary is a separate entity.

 Why should we encourage Schema development?

Schematic play enables children to act out experiences, take risks, try out and talk about what they already know and can do. Moreover, when children play with a concept or an idea that they know well, they are building upon knowledge which they can then apply to an array of new activities. This active exploration, engagement, thinking and trial & error pattern strengthens their schemas (cognitive structures) which are essential for learning and development.

It is important to understand the reason behind a behaviour, so that  children can be redirected and helped to explore the schema safely and positively.

 

Acknowledgement: Lots of love to my models Abigail, Sarah, Jonathan, Arshad and Samara, and their wonderful parents Anju & Bill and Asish & Rev.Suneeth