Week 10 Reflection

This week's class was again filled with many fun activities. One activity that I really enjoyed was using percussion instruments to play the traditional nursery rhyme, the Incy Wincy Spider. Terry asked us to play the instruments during the part of the song where we felt the instruments should be played. Again this style of instruction by a teacher is more of a guide rather than a task master, which supports John Dewey's educational theory which believes that teachers should offer guidance rather than set limits through constricting instructions and rules. This allows children greater freedom to express themselves and engage on their own terms with the activity which allows them to thrive through free play.

Terry also got us to listen to a lycra song which included us engaging with some lycra and interacting with the tactile material which was an interesting activity that I think small children would really enjoy. Young children can be seen to progress through three stages of social development according to educational theorist Sara Smilansky, who based these stages on Piaget's Theory of Development. The stages include; Functional Play, Constructive Play and Dramatic Play. Songs that involve the senses, like the lycra song, are a type of constructive play, that encourage children to manipulate and engage with materials in order to produce an effect. Dramatic play is the stage after constructive, and utilises children's cooperative skills to dramatise different scenarios that express their world (Nixon and Gould, 1999). This stage is very important, and there are many ways that dramatic play can be encouraged in an early childhood setting. For example, having a 'dress-up' box, or asking children to perform or act out different parts of a story that is being read etc.

Activity:
For 3-4 year olds

Ask children to re-inact in small groups of 5 the favourite part of their day or week. For example, this might include them playing ball with their mum or dad,  cuddling their puppy, being read to by a family member etc..

This engages children's 'Dramatic Play' stage in a simple, yet meaningful way, and allows them to express themselves and their world in a safe and welcoming environment.