What are the different types of play?
On this episode of the Learn With Less podcast, we sat down with Lina Richards, an early childhood educator and family support worker. Lina mentors caregivers serving infants and toddlers as well as providing play experiences for children and their families who have been approved for supportive services via Early Steps. She is the proud mother of twin girls and a military spouse.
We discussed:
- Lina’s personal and professional background, and how she came to do the work she’s doing today
- Why play looks “different” at different developmental stages
- What is a play “schema” and why is it useful for parents and caregivers to understand these?
- Lina’s top 3 tips and resources for supporting a young child’s learning through play
Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
Mudbugs Early Learning Facebook Group, hosted by Lina Richards
Learning Through Play: How to Recognize Play Schemas from handmadeplaces.co.uk
Raising Human Beings, by Ross W. Greene, Ph.D.
The Whole-Brain Child, by Dan Siegel, M.D., and Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D.
Connect With Us:
Lina: Facebook
Ayelet: Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest
Text Transcript of This Episode:
Ayelet: Today, I am speaking with Lina Richards. Lina is an early childhood educator and family support worker. Lina mentors caregivers serving infants and toddlers, as well as providing play experiences for children and their families who have been approved for supportive services via early steps. She is the proud mother of two twin girls, and a military spouse. Lina, welcome to Learn With Less! We’re so happy to have you here.
Lina: Thank you. Happy to be here.
Ayelet: Excellent. Well, I’ve asked you today to come onto the show to speak to us about play (one of my favorite subjects), and specifically what is a play schema? But first we want to just hear a little bit about you. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about, you know, how you got into the work that you’re doing?
Lina: Well, I’ve had a long, very different career. I don’t tend to stay places very long… So, I went into the military and from there, I always kinda knew I wanted to work with children and families. And so I went into nursing, but that wasn’t my thing. So obviously, I went back to teaching. Once I had my daughters, they were two. I stayed home with them from the time they were one years old to two years old. And then I was like, okay, time for you to go to school and me to go to school. I went back to college and pursued getting a bachelor’s degree that allowed me to work in early childhood education.
Ayelet: Amazing, amazing. And I’m sure that journey has had lots of different definitions and has looked many different ways, as well. And it’s, it’s great to be able to support other families as well, especially once you’ve become a parent yourself, because you can feel like, you know, how important it is and how helpful it can be.
Lina: Oh, yes, my mom was an educator, so education was always a foundation for me. She always encouraged that, we’d be in the libraries and we’re always learning. So it was natural for me to pursue education.
Ayelet: Awesome. That’s so great. Well, let’s dig right in. Tell us a bit about why play really looks different at different developmental stages? That’s like a huge question, but I would just love your take on, you know, tell us, break it down a little bit for us about, you know, obviously I think many parents and caregivers come into parenthood thinking, okay, we’ll play is like, you play a game, you know, you run around the field and you play that or you read a book and you read it from front to back. And that’s how we as adults conceptualize play. But obviously that’s not what it looks like to play, especially with an infant or a toddler. So tell us a little bit about what those sort of early developmental stages and what play might look like in different ways.
Lina: So when I was thinking about this question, I was thinking about as adults, we should still be playing! So I think over the years, when I look at how I’ve played, it’s changed. What I read, what I read has changed when I was going to nursing school, I read murder mystery books. And, you know, I focused on games that had something to do with nursing. So I, I feel like just like with adults, children are going, their interests are going to vary as they grow and they change. So I’ve had three, I had two different ideas and my, you know: children are different. They’re unique and they have different ways to explore just like we have different ways to explore, ourselves. So we need to honor that, like I just said, I went from one interest to another interest in all the years that I’ve been alive on this earth based on what interests me in that particular moment.
So I think with children, we have to follow them with what interests them in that different moment. And then when you think about children with developmental delays, they’re going to need more time. They’re going to need more support in, in developing what they are enjoying. And I always feel like we need to meet children where they’re at, just like we meet adults where they’re at, we need to meet children where they’re at. So those, when we talk about the schemas of play, it’s very important to provide them an environment that’s going to be interesting and engaging to them. I frequently see questions on different sites that I’m on that say, well, you know, I need some ideas for play for children, six to 12 [months]. It’s not that easy, right. If it was that easy, I don’t know, there’d be a book out there and people would be buying it. But I just, it’s just that I feel like you have to tailor it to meet the needs of the kids, just like anything else. We want people to tailor to our needs as well, as adults, we needed to look for the children. Totally agree.
Ayelet: And I think the, the real word that stuck out to me in how you answered that question was the word exploration, right? Because that, that is, it that’s – that is play, right? Especially for children and certainly for adults. And I think it’s such a good point that you bring up. Like, we lose sight of that. We, we define like, as adults, we think of procedural things that we have to get done. And we forget that exploration and just time with an object or in a place or with a person is so valuable! And it’s not about, you know, getting something done or specifically targeting a skill. Like if that happens, awesome.
And it probably will, but like, if you give your child, I like to have something on hand. So I’m holding up a funnel. If you hand, just a small, everyday safe, obviously, household objects and you see how they explore – that is going to be a whole lot of learning, right there. And it may not be what you came into the activity, you know, expecting, but it’s certainly, there are ways to, to help your child integrate learning and to do the learning of the day based on how you’re talking to them, how you’re playing with them, how you’re exploring the object, or just talking about the object or giving the space and opportunity. So I just, I love, I love everything you said about that. So let’s hear a little bit about, as you mentioned, what is a play schema and really, why is it useful for parents and caregivers to understand what these are?
Lina: Okay. So I recently not even a year ago, discovered the list and I think I have put it on your site and a response to a question someone asked from your group, and this – it comes from Britain. Everything comes good from overseas, for some reason. But anyways, there’s nine schemes of play. And I didn’t really know about the schemas as myself working in education, but I kind of, you know, I didn’t know there was a name I knew that kids need certain ways and they had certain interests. So this chart has been really helpful and beneficial and I enjoy stirring this chart and encourage you maybe to post it somewhere yourself so that your members can see it.
Ayelet: We’ll definitely link to it in the, in the show notes of this episode. For sure. Yeah.
Lina: Good. So there’s nine scheme as a play and I’ll just briefly go over them. I’m not going to go into detail if you put that up there. So the first one is orientation, then there’s positioning, connection, trajectory, which is the throwing of things, and transporting, moving from one basket to another basket, or as my friends like to say, “dumping it into the toilet or dumping it into my coffee cup!” And then there’s enveloping where they’re hiding underneath blankets or going in tents. I was at a visit yesterday and I had a friend that kept burrowing underneath the cushion of the couch. I was like, it seems like he’s trying to find somewhere to hide. You know, he wants to go burrow like a little animal would.
Rotation, those children that like to spin and, and go on the swings and stuff like that. I think my group, I mentioned that I’m not a big spinner. I love roller coasters, but if you put me on a spinny ride, I don’t like that. So you have those kids that enjoy spinning. And then you have transformation, which is more like your mixing, cooking and baking – those kids that like to do those things, experiment yesterday I had some neighbors over, we made homemade play-dough. So you have those, and then you have enclosure, which is kind of similar to the enveloping, where they like to go into things and maybe in the boxes and make tools with boxes or those kinds of things.
Ayelet: Yeah. Well, just hearing about these different, you know, the names, these different kinds of play it. I think it’s very helpful as an adult and even just as an educator and like you were saying, you know, it, it’s just nice to hear the words for things, because it gives a word to describe everything that you’ve seen before as an educator, or a therapist, and, and as a parent. And because that is, it’s so useful when you say like, these are things that happen. And again, we don’t necessarily see these things develop in order, but it’s definitely, it definitely develops over time and on some type of trajectory, can you speak a little bit to that, Lina?
Lina: Sure, well we’re going to bounce around in our interests. You know, just like I said earlier, I haven’t had the same interests in the 40 some years that I’ve been alive on this planet, you know, and, and even as an adult, there’s things in these schemas that I enjoy. So I would say, you know, when you’re little, when you’re baby newborn, you’re going to be more in, you know, just basic you’re on the floor. And you’re maybe getting into that rolling stage. You might be pulling that blanket over your head, you know, playing that peek-a-boo those kinds of things. So that’s kind of like your enclosure, your enveloping. Your toddlers, they’re going to be into, you know, that trajectory, throwing everything. They’re going to be into the transporting, the connection piece, the mix, the transformation, those are going to be your older toddlers.
So I, I feel like, but like I said, you’re going to vary maybe a month, you might be in one thing, maybe two months, you might be in another, it could be a year. You might be in something. So it just, you kind of what I like to tell the parents that I’ve talked to is you have to be a detective, just sit back, watch, ’em watch how they’re playing, just with anything in the home. Or you can set up something, put out some kitchen gadgets and see how they explore with them. And just sit back and watch ’em, take some notes. And, you know, just set up that play experience that it’s a guest play experience that you’re not going to have to tell them no, just sit and watch them and see what they do with the materials. You don’t always have to be in there. Oh, you got to do it this way. You got to do it that way. Just watch them, you know, see what interests them, take notes. If they like to throw things, you know, offer something that they can throw. Instead of always saying, no, no, no, no, you can’t throw this. You can’t throw that. You know, give them some socks to throw, give them some cotton balls or give them, you know, something that they can do so that you can encourage that type of play.
Ayelet: Yes. Because it is play and it is learning and it’s all valuable. And, and I think it’s so helpful to hear that this is something that it’s not just your kid, who’s throwing things. It’s not just your kid, who’s dumping things into the toilet or dumping all of the books off of the shelf. Like number one, that’s early literacy. And number two, like it’s how they are learning about like, they are these tiny scientists and they are learning about how heavy something is and how much force it takes to move one thing to another place.
And all of those things – that’s learning, right? It’s not holding up, holding up a flashcard and saying, what’s this, it’s figuring it out. It’s tactile education. It’s, it’s all of those things. And I want to hear a few of your great tips to help parents to figure out how they can get started or reframe their thinking into doing those kinds of things in just a second. But first we’re going to take a brief break and hear a word from our sponsors. And then we’ll hear some of those great tips and resources from Lina about what you can do to support your child’s learning through play.
Okay. Lina, we would love to hear if you have three top tips or just any of your favorite tips for helping parents to do what it is you just explained and we just talked about, about, you know, sitting back and exploring and letting them play. What does that look like? What, what are some things that parents can do to sort of support that reframe for themselves and feel confident that they’re doing enough and doing it right.
Lina: Right. I think the main thing for us, it’s like you said, our society is so rush rush, and in the developmental milestones, they, they become overwhelming to caregivers. You know, you want your child to be meeting these milestones, but I think the thing about milestones is they’re just guidelines. Don’t put so much pressure on the guidelines. I firmly believe that children bloom when they’re ready. I’ve worked with children with developmental and they were just so awesome. You know, they have gifts that other children might not necessarily have – all our kids have gifts. So we need to take the time and relax and study them and watch, watch, just watch them and see what their interests are and not worry so much about, Oh, they didn’t do X, Y, and Z in the physical domain or the motor domain or the whatever else. You know, your child has probably has strengths in other areas.
Maybe they’re just really loving and kind, and they got those social, emotional skills down. So I just, I feel like we just need to read and watch them and let them develop in who they are. Just like, I would want someone that I work with to let me develop and, and not rush me along and realize that, you know, I have strengths and commend me for those strengths specifically, praise me for those strengths and meet me where I’m at when I don’t, you know, give me those baby steps. I know with our age range, that zero to three, it’s not always easy to come in and, and I guess give them the opportunity to use their voice. But even if they’re non-verbal, they have a way to communicate. They can point to this or point to that. So respecting their voice, even if they don’t have a voice, right.
Ayelet: However, they’re using their, their own modes of communication, whether it’s looking at something or moving towards something, if they’re not even at that pointing phase yet. Right. Yeah. I love that. And I love Lina, how you bring it back to, like, what would I want?
Lina: Yeah.
Ayelet: It’s so obvious when you think about it that way. And I think as a society, we don’t often regard young children in that same way. So thank you for that. I think it’s so important. And I think it’s so important for parents to, to hear that and to remember and recognize that, especially because we live in such a fast paced society,
What other jewels of wisdom do you have to offer for us?
Lina: Well, the main thing for me is setting up a “yes” environment. So often parents say, no, no, no, no. So we have to create the environment that is tolerable for us and acceptable. Some kids like to jump, they want to, you know, have that risky play opportunity. And that’s perfectly normal. They need to have that experience. When I had a home daycare and it was raining outside and we couldn’t go outside because it was too hard of a rainfall, I would take the couch cushions out and I would just put music on and they would just run all about the house. And they would be able to jump on and off the couch cushion, because they need to have those opportunities to use all their muscles throughout the day. So decreasing the amount of time we say no, and allowing them to have risky play, giving them the opportunities like you said, to explore how they see fit and not stepping in all the time to take over their play.
Ayelet: Hm. That’s something that I hear again and again from parents that it’s really hard to do. And also on the other side from educators and therapists like myself who want tools to help parents do that, do you, we didn’t talk about this, but do you have any, you know, little bits of wisdom in your, from your own experience about ways to help parents to step back and like, what have you, like, what are some things that you like to say to parents to help them see that?
Lina: I just say… Be a detective. I love the concept of being a detective it’s so relatable. You know, a detective sits back and observe. I have personally myself, I’m an observer. I don’t jump right in and take over a situation I’m going to watch. And I’m going to see what’s going on before I offer an opinion. And narrating! We have to do a lot of narrating with our young ones. You know, we don’t always have to control the conversation. And especially when they’re zero to three, they’re not doing a lot of talking anyway. So just being, I call it being the sportscaster, of doing a play by play of, Oh, I see you doing this. And I see you doing that and giving that specific praise. I really liked the way that you did this. That was really smart. I would have never thought of that. You know, being okay with the fact that they don’t have to do it your way, as long as it gets done, this is not math and the math that they have nowadays, where you have to do it X, Y, and Z way. Why does it matter? As long as it gets done, it gets solved. You know, that was great that you came up with that way. I would’ve never thought of that way. I bet that’s the thing about working with kids that excites me. They come up with things that we might not have ever thought of. I truly believe we can learn from anybody.
Ayelet: I totally agree. And I, it makes me want to invite you into my home and play with, with you and with my kids to hear you. It’s so sweet. I love it. And then Lina, will you tell us a little bit more about some of your favorite resources to share with families, for supporting a young child’s learning through play? You mentioned, of course, And again, we will link to that handout that was created that is a really nice, just summation of those schemas of play and stages. But what are some other things that you have found useful to share with families or even for your own edification?
Lina: Well, I really enjoy following those researchers that are interested in brain science. It’s totally fascinating to learn about, you know, there are reasons why everybody does what they do, but now they’re really getting to know children and exploring, getting those, you know, why kids are having lagging skills or why they’re doing so well in this area. Those kinds of things, brain research, really fascinates me. Loose parts, I love loose parts. Like you said earlier, we don’t have to have that fancy gadget. Most of the time I take out recyclables, you know, going for a walk in nature. You know, finding parts out in nature is the best way. You know, you get that fresh air, you get that opportunity to escape the busy-ness of the day, especially if you’re going to a park, you get that time to just breathe and relax and have that meditation, which is so important for us because we’re rushing, you know, as caregivers, we have maybe the responsibility of work, full-time motherhood, those things are not easy. So we need to, you know, I follow groups like that, that I share with people in my group so that they realize that, that it’s important to take time for you in order to be the best caregiver for your children.
Ayelet: Absolutely. Do. You mentioned following brain science researchers, do you have any favorites?
Lina: Dr. Tina Payne Bryson. I love Dr. Ross Greene for older children and well for school-age, but all of his techniques, you can still use with the primary… the planning, plan B plan C, and we just involving kids and having their voice heard when you get buy-in from a kid, they’re going to do it more likely than if you’re sitting there, commanding them all the time and you know.
Ayelet: Said anyone with a toddler, right? And you have a beautiful Facebook group. Can you tell us where people can find that?
Lina: Yes! I decided to create Mud Bugs Early Learning Resource, because eventually I want to turn it into a school in my backyard. And that’s what my plan is done, hopefully one day, because I have mud bugs in my backyard – they’re pretty cool! They’re interesting! Anyways, I decided to do it because I see a lot of good groups, but sometimes groups just talk about one concept and I wanted to make sure that, you know, parents understand that you have to heal yourself.
And sometimes you have to look and reflect on yourself. What am I doing wrong? Because we as adults, we do stuff wrong – and it’s okay that we do stuff wrong, we’re human beings. So I just want them to realize that, you know, as parents, we have to sit back and reflect, how can I change my own actions? My own responses was I hungry? Was I sleepy? Was I this or that? Maybe I needed a break away from the kids for a minute. So I include that part in there. And then I also, because I love play so much, I include play in there and basic child development. I just pull resources from everywhere. You had asked me my favorite researchers. I really, I mean, those two are one of my favorites, but I just love researching in general.
Ayelet: Yeah, totally. I’m the same, as you might have guessed. Awesome! Well, Lina, thank you so, so much for your time and energy today. For everyone listening from home or on the go, thank you so much for joining us. And we will see you next time!
Lina: Thank you!
