{"id":7377,"date":"2021-10-06T16:51:12","date_gmt":"2021-10-06T15:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/earlylevelportal\/?page_id=120"},"modified":"2026-03-18T14:33:02","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T14:33:02","slug":"heuristic-play","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/earlylevelportal\/heuristic-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Heuristic Play"},"content":{"rendered":"<section id=\"builder-section-text_11\" class=\"builder-section-first builder-section builder-section-text builder-section-next-text builder-text-columns-1\" style=\"background-size: cover; background-repeat: no-repeat;background-position: center center;\">\n<div class=\"builder-section-content\">\n<div class=\"builder-text-row\">\n<div class=\"builder-text-column builder-text-column-1\" id=\"builder-section-text_11-column-1\">\n<div class=\"builder-text-content\">\n<h1><big><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-17258 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/public\/earlylevelportal\/uploads\/sites\/3720\/2025\/11\/24142203\/Play-Pedagogy-icon.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"50\" height=\"50\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/public\/earlylevelportal\/uploads\/sites\/3720\/2025\/11\/24142203\/Play-Pedagogy-icon.png 756w, https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/public\/earlylevelportal\/uploads\/sites\/3720\/2025\/11\/24142203\/Play-Pedagogy-icon-300x300.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 50px) 100vw, 50px\" \/><\/big><\/h1>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\">Heuristic Play<\/span><\/h1>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"builder-section-text_44\" class=\"builder-section-prev-text builder-section builder-section-text builder-section-next-text builder-text-columns-2 layout-9\" style=\"background-size: cover; background-repeat: no-repeat;background-position: center center;\">\n<div class=\"builder-section-content\">\n<div class=\"builder-text-row\">\n<div class=\"builder-text-column builder-text-column-1\" id=\"builder-section-text_44-column-1\">\n<div class=\"builder-text-content\">\n<p>Heuristic play is a progression from Treasure Baskets, for when the infant is on the move, from 10 months onwards.\u00a0 According to the Oxford Dictionary, \u2018heuristic\u2019 means &#8220;<cite>helping to find out or discover; proceeding by trial and error.&#8221;<\/cite><\/p>\n<p>Heuristic play,<cite> \u201cconsists of offering a group of children, for a defined period of time in a controlled environment, a large number of different kinds of objects and receptacles with which they play freely without adult intervention.\u201d<\/cite><\/p>\n<p>(People under Three, Goldschmied and Jackson, 2004)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"builder-text-column builder-text-column-2\" id=\"builder-section-text_44-column-2\">\n<div class=\"builder-text-content\">\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"ttfmake-embed-wrapper aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 960px;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"7 ELC 2 Bitesize Loose Parts 1\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sCdmvwW0bXg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"builder-section-text_71\" class=\"builder-section-prev-text builder-section builder-section-text builder-section-last builder-text-columns-1\" style=\"background-size: cover; background-repeat: no-repeat;background-position: center center;\">\n<div class=\"builder-section-content\">\n<div class=\"builder-text-row\">\n<div class=\"builder-text-column builder-text-column-1\" id=\"builder-section-text_71-column-1\">\n<div class=\"builder-text-content\">\n<ul>\n<li>Heuristic play respects the increasing mobility of the child and there is no right or wrong way to <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/earlylevelportal\/play\/\">play<\/a> with an object.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Everything the toddler undertakes is successful.\u200b\u00a0 It is intended to enrich not replace other <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/earlylevelportal\/loose-parts\/\">loose part<\/a> experiences.\u200b<\/li>\n<li>We all know that once a child becomes mobile, they become an explorer and practitioners should provide an opportunity for the youngest children to explore in a <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/earlylevelportal\/spaces\/\">space<\/a> that is safe, organised, resourced.<\/li>\n<li>Exploring objects supports the child&#8217;s curiosity, <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/earlylevelportal\/independence\/\">independence<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/earlylevelportal\/creativity\/\">creativity<\/a> as they focus on what interests them while using their senses to gather information.<\/li>\n<li>It is particularly useful for children in their second year who often seem unwilling to engage in any activity for more than a few minutes.\u200b<\/li>\n<li>Heuristic play is a <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/earlylevelportal\/planning\/\">planned<\/a> for experience in which specific children are invited to participate and all other distractions are removed.\u200b<\/li>\n<li>With our youngest children, there are times when we need to plan specific experiences that will enhance their learning and <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/earlylevelportal\/child-development\/\">development<\/a>.\u00a0 When planning, it is important to consider the number of children that will be involved, as a plentiful supply of objects is vital.\u00a0 The learning should be focused on exploration rather than sharing which may not be developmentally appropriate for this age group of children.<\/li>\n<li>Encouragement to participate in heuristic play could be through the invitation to child with a smile, putting a hand out to be held, and telling them that we have some exciting things for them to play with.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u2018<cite>Heuristic play is an approach and not a prescription.\u00a0 There is no right way to do it and people in different settings will have their own ideas and collect their own materials.<\/cite>\u2019<\/p>\n<p><em>(People under Three<\/em>, Goldschmied and Jackson, 2004, p. 130)<\/p>\n<h3>\u00a0<\/h3>\n<h3>Ways we can do this:<\/h3>\n<p>A large area should be provided for heuristic play, with space for movement and limited distractions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Time should be planned for play and include an opportunity to be involved in gathering up the resources, to develop concept of responsibility and respect.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The storage of heuristic materials should be organised into labelled containers, aiding the tidying up process and facilitating children\u2019s independence.<\/p>\n<p>Emphasis should be on the child\u2019s choice, with the role of the adult focused on supporting exploration and not on directing their play.\u00a0 Instead the practitioner should be <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/earlylevelportal\/observations\/\">observing<\/a> the children in their play to inform planning for the next session.\u00a0 What resources engaged the children\u2019s attention most?\u00a0 What were they doing with particular objects?\u00a0 What can you provide to extend or develop this interest?<\/p>\n<p>Children must be given time to \u2018wallow\u2019 in their play and not rush their exploration, deciding themselves when they are ready to move on to something else.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u200bIt is vital that between sessions of use, heuristic play objects are checked for cleanliness and safety.\u00a0 Any broken items are discarded and new ones are collected.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Heuristic Play \u00a0 Heuristic play is a progression from Treasure Baskets, for when the infant is on the move, from 10 months onwards.\u00a0 According to the Oxford Dictionary, \u2018heuristic\u2019 means &#8220;helping to find out or discover; proceeding by trial and error.&#8221; Heuristic play, \u201cconsists of offering a group of children, for a defined period of &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7767,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-builder.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7377","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/earlylevelportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/earlylevelportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/earlylevelportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/earlylevelportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7767"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/earlylevelportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7377"}],"version-history":[{"count":46,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/earlylevelportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20738,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/earlylevelportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7377\/revisions\/20738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/sb\/earlylevelportal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}