Interview with Heather Jackson, Co-Author of Actions of Play
With 35 years of experience in early childhood education, Heather Jackson has developed a deep understanding of children's natural play patterns. In 2010, a workshop on play schemas opened her eyes to "a whole new world of play," transforming how she observes and supports children's learning. As the Executive Director of The Sunflower School, Jackson has moved away from viewing curriculum as a "watered down version of kindergarten with worksheets and flash cards" to recognize play as "the most important work of early childhood education."
In her new book "Actions of Play," co-authored with Lisa Agogliati through Redleaf Press, Jackson shares detailed stories from her classrooms that highlight how understanding play schemas can enrich children's learning experiences. Her work encourages educators to slow down, observe children's repeated play patterns, and create experiences that support their natural ways of making meaning in the world.
Q: What first drew your attention to these repeated play patterns in children's natural play?
I actually attended a workshop in about 2010 on play schemas and that workshop opened my eyes to a whole new world of play. When I observed children's play from the lens of play schemas I couldn't help but notice the play schemas. For example the child carrying materials from one area of the room to another for no apparent reason is in a transporting play schema or the child dumping toy baskets everyday, that child is learning about the trajectory play schema-how do materials move? I think play schemas explain so much about children's play that I had not noticed before.
Q: In your 30 years of experience, what changes have you observed in how educators view and support children's play behaviors?
I know for me, 35 years ago we looked at curriculum as a watered down version of kindergarten with worksheets and flash cards but with my research in the Reggio inspired approach, I have come to realize that play is the most important work of early childhood education. “Children are the first great researchers” Carlina Rinaldi (Reggio children)
I think if you look at children's play from the lens of play schemas then you become more accepting of their play patterns like dumping toy. That child is not trying to upset you but he is learning how materials move so then it is our job as educators to provide that child with positive experiences in the movement of materials - like ramps and balls, tubes and materials to roll into the tubes and there are so many experiences that highlight the movement of materials. We can’t stop children from experimenting in the play schemas but we can provide them with interesting and important play experiences. As educators we come to see our work as researchers alongside children and with our co-teachers.
Q: Could you walk us through an example of how understanding a child's play schema led to a deeper learning project at The Sunflower School?
In my book, Actions of Play there are several stories from our classrooms that highlight Play schemas. The story of a mistake is about the play schemas: transforming. The transforming play schema is about how materials change such as making playdough with children is a way for children to experience materials changing from flour salt and water into playdough. This story of the Mistake is about how does paper transform into water. I used tissue paper mixed into water and the children loved how the tissue paper changed in the water and became a messy mixup of mush. Once the play was finished I scooped up the tissue paper to throw it out and instead as the children helped they were manipulating it into balls. We placed the balls of tissue paper on paper towel to see if it would dry. The next morning, the tissue paper balls had dried into mounds of paper. One of the children looked at them and said they look like a garden which at that time of year-we were in the process of planting our gardens on the playground. We took the mounds of tissue paper and glued them onto a large piece of mural paper and the children drew flowers and stems and leaves with the mounds. The final product was a beautiful 3D mural of a garden. I also think trying different types of paper would expand and enrich this work- does all paper disintegrate like tissue paper? I also tied this experience in with the book "the beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg. What other materials can we transform? You can see how looking at this experience from the lens of play schemas can expand and enrich your project work.
Q: What are some of the most common play frameworks you observe, and how do they manifest in different age groups?
When you look at the play schema of enclosing and enveloping - you see this in babies and into older school age children. For babies playing peek a boo with a piece of fabric or small blanket is an enclosing play schema- all young babies and toddlers love peek a boo. This is a game that comes to children naturally. In this game you are enclosing the baby or yourself with the small blanket over their heads or yours.
For preschoolers- building simple forts with blankets and clips is a way to enclose themselves in the fort. I remember building forts as a young child with my friends- we had recycled table cloths or blankets and we would clip them to trees or inside we would clip the blankets onto the couches. Fort building can become quite elaborate with school aged children.
The enclosing play schema is even present in adults who love to go camping. There is a feeling of safety and security when you are inside a tent. This is only a simple example of one of the play schemas and in our book we have moved deeper into each of the play schemas to show educators how the play schemas manifest themselves.
And also all of the play schemas manifest themselves in all of the age groups with a little research and gazing at children from the lens of play schemas.
Q: What surprised you most during the research and writing process for "Actions of Play"?
I think what surprised me the most was how many stories of play schemas I actually had to tell so the story parts of the book were fairly easy to write about as I had a lot of documentation.
The writing process was quite long when I actually started to tell my stories. I wanted to give as much detail as I could so that educators could really feel the stories of our children at The Sunflower School.
I did write this book with a co-author (Lisa Agogliati) who I have never met. Redleaf Press paired us up and so we have only meet on zoom calls but we had a shared experience of how play schemas effected our practice. We were very intentional with each chapter and Lisa wrote about her experience and I wrote about my experience and so the book came together fairly easily. I think if you have an idea for a book that is based in research then it comes to life in the story you are trying to tell.
Q: How do you suggest educators begin documenting and identifying these movement patterns in their own classrooms?
I think first educators have to understand the 8 play schemas that are the most evident in early childhood which the book outlines in great detail. Once you understand these play schemas then you will start to see them in your children.
I always start by noticing and observing children's play- watching them for a number of days and writing down what they are doing over and over again. Then I also photograph children's play and I study the photos to find clues about the play. I always have my journal with me in the classrooms and I am always watching and listening. I also think that we need to be silent and take in the children's play and not rush to get to the next routine of our days. There is a movement currently being talked about in our field and that is a slow pedagogy. We as educators need to slow our days down so that these play schemas become evident to us. Once we have done some detective work about what the patterns in the play are and then we can identify the play schemas that are happening then it is our job to create more play experiences for the children so that the children can fully realize the play schema.
Q: Can you share how understanding play structures has influenced your approach to teaching?
The play schemas have given meaning to some of our interesting and important projects over the years at The sunflower school. I also believe that we need to search for the verb in children's play instead of the noun. Nouns are ladybugs, firefighters and Spring-the season which is what typical themes are based on as educators program plan for their children. But if we slow down and look at what is fascinating the children which is sometimes the play schemas like trajectory which are all verbs. What is the verb within that ladybug, firefighter or even Spring? If you look at the ladybug running around in our playgrounds- we see children become so fascinated with that ladybug- and we are so quick to say lets do a project about ladybugs but instead I believe it is the movement of the ladybug- which is the trajectory play schema and this opens up programming to a big lens of movement of animals, insects, ourselves. We also put together questions at the start of our projects to guide our work: How can a small ladybug move so quickly? How do I move my body? How do ladybugs move their body? How do animals move differently? The list goes on and on. We can talk about ladybugs but it is truly only a small part of what can be explored in the verb of movement.
All of our projects at The Sunflower School are based on verbs and play schemas and our book highlights many stories.
Q: What advice would you give to educators who are just beginning to explore pattern-based curriculum?
I would research the play schemas through this book: Actions of Play, and Threads of Thinking by Cathy NutBrown. I would truly try to understand each of the play schemas and how they concretely show up in your classrooms. Then work on different experiences to present to the children within each of the play schemas so that the children can play out their understanding of each play schema.
Q: How do you see these play behaviors connecting with the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education?
I think the educators in Reggio are researchers and detectives and they are always looking for the why of a child's play. What are children trying to figure out? How do children make meaning of their worlds? Play schemas played over and over again help children make meaning of their worlds. By carrying and transporting materials all over the classrooms or on the playgrounds, children are understanding physics and how materials are carried and how heavy materials are and can I carry that heavy object or should I carry a small object, can I use a tool to carry an object and something to help me carry that material. Can a wheelbarrow help me carry an object or do I need a bag? In all of these situations, children are trying to figure out how the world works. As educators we have observed all of these scenarios on our playgrounds or in our classrooms. Play schemas are everywhere we just have to have the knowledge to identify them. The Reggio approach is based on theory and research and I also believe that play schemas are based on brain development theory in young children and research.
Q: How do you balance intentional planning with following children's pattern-based interests?
Once you have done your research on play schemas and actually observed your children working on play schemas, you will be able to incorporate more play experiences to enhance the play schemas. I have an example of a child who was constantly taking her shoes off and then trying to put them back on. Our staff observed her doing this everyday. It was frustrating for our educators because the child had difficulty taking her shoes on and off and was frustrated and consteantly needed help. This child was working on the connecting and disconnecting play schema - we have all had children who do this-so the educators needed to find a less frustrating way to figure out connecting and disconnecting. They though a basket of adult shoes was the best way for this child to discover how to put on shoes and then take them off in an easy and fun way. She kept her own shoes on and easily slipped her foot and shoe into a large sized men's shoes. The educators also presented play experiences that included connecting and disconnecting materials like clips and scarves, key rings to open and place keys on and take off, using tape to connect paper with and disconnect with and so the list of creative play experiences was created for this child and the other children in the classroom who also became fascinated with connecting and disconnecting. I also believe that what happens is that if one child is interested in a certain play schemas then others will join in to experiment. The shoe basket become a community project for all of the children in that room. The intentional planning comes after the observation of what the children are fascinated with in their play.
Q: Looking ahead, how do you hope your work with play patterns and frameworks will influence early childhood education?
I feel like play schemas are a natural and expansive way to build project work with young children. By using play schemas you are taking the interests of the children into account. The children's interests are not Paw Patrol or other commercial entities but rather the children's interests are about making meaning of their world. I hope play schemas ,which have been around for a long time but we have not paid too much attention to them, will become a natural part of early childhood education instead of worksheets, flash cards and pre packaged curriculums.
Q: Anything else you want to add?
Please read my book Actions of Play - it will open your eyes to the world of expansive programming and a new world of meaning for your children. Play schemas incorporate loose parts, open ended play, research/theory based play and most important play itself. Play is how children learn.
Thank you to Heather Jackson for sharing her valuable insights into play schemas and early childhood education. Her book "Actions of Play," co-authored with Lisa Agogliati, is available through Redleaf Press and offers educators a deeper understanding of how children make meaning through play.
Meet Heather in person at the Annual How We Reggio Conference on March 6th-7th, where she will be available for book signings. This is a wonderful opportunity to discuss play schemas and learn more about implementing these ideas in your own educational setting.
To learn more about Heather's work at The Sunflower School and to stay updated on her latest insights into early childhood education, visit The Sunflower School website.