How does heuristic play impact Toddlers’ learning?
What might be the role of heuristic play in supporting cognitive development?
General topic of interest
Providing authentic experiences in defined spaces to support cognitive development was our main interest. The purpose of the research was to observe learners' growth in cognitive development. We wanted to understand how heuristic play stimulates creativity, imagination, multiple senses, and critical thinking, promotes early mathematical conceptual learning, and supports gross motor skills and brain development in toddlers.
Participants
Laura Manuela Gallindo Lins, Burcu Polat Carneiro
Literature Review
Early childhood is the period in which a child's brain constantly develops. It is through the assimilation of meaningful experiences that thousands of new connections between neurons are formed. Neuroscience researchers have shown that during the first three years, the brain is more efficient in pruning out weak synapses, making room for other connections built by environmental experiences. Furthermore, the strongest information children assimilate is stored and later used to guide their behavior and build new skills.
When we talk about significant experiences in early childhood, playing is the most important activity, as nothing makes sense to the child if it is not through play. Involving a child in an environment that is rich in critical experiences is crucial for them to make meaning, sharpen skills, and expand their understanding of themselves and the world around them. Among so many types of play, heuristic play and its role in helping to promote children's development has stood out due to the way this play is conducted by the educator, giving the children opportunities to build their own knowledge. Goldschmied and Jackson (2004) reflect on the similarity between a scientist's practice and children's ongoing explorations, arguing that by revisiting theories raised during heuristic play sessions, children can make discoveries for themselves.
To understand how children's cognitive development evolves, we use the precepts of neuroscience as the theoretical basis of our studies. Children's cognitive development encompasses several mental skills that have improved over the years. Attention, memory, reasoning, and problem-solving are higher mental functions that can be stimulated and honed in educational environments. Lent (2019) argues that the human brain, from an early age, has a basic cognitive configuration. In this way, the environment in which we are living plays an important role in the development of complex operations that only human beings are capable of performing. According to Dower (2017, quoted in David, Goouch, Powell, and Abbott 2008, p 117-127), the union of nature (DNA) and nurture (environment and experiences) is directly responsible for the shape of strong brains and well-rounded personalities.
While conducting our research, we noted that throughout the sessions and their respective observations, children's investigations were focused on mathematical concepts like sorting, classifying, number sense, volume, spatial sense, subtraction, and estimation. Rigby (2022) states that an environment rich in opportunities and attractive materials encourages the exploration of basic mathematical concepts.
To conclude, weekly heuristic play sessions in early childhood settings help promote young children's cognitive development because, as we have observed, the variety of materials in an environment that encourages spontaneous exploration leads to the exercise of basic mathematical concepts which are beneficial to develop cognitive abilities. To understand how children's cognitive development evolves, we use the precepts of neuroscience as the theoretical basis of our studies. Children's cognitive development encompasses several mental skills that have improved over the years. Attention, memory, reasoning, and problem-solving are higher mental functions that can be stimulated and honed in educational environments. Lent (2019) argues that the human brain, from an early age, has a basic cognitive configuration. In this way, the environment in which we are living plays an important role in the development of complex operations that only human beings are capable of performing. According to Dower (2017 quoted in David, Goouch, Powell, and Abbott 2008, p 117-127), the union of nature (DNA) and nurture (environment and experiences) is directly responsible for the shape of strong brains and well-rounded personalities.
Whilst conducting our research, we noted that throughout the sessions and their respective observations, children's investigations were focused on mathematical concepts like sorting, classifying, number sense, volume, spatial sense, subtraction, and estimation. Rigby (2022) states that an environment rich in opportunities and attractive materials encourages the exploration of basic mathematical concepts.
To conclude, weekly heuristic play sessions in early childhood settings help promote young children's cognitive development because, as we have observed the variety of materials in an environment that encourages spontaneous exploration leads to the exercise of basic mathematical concepts which are beneficial to develop cognitive abilities.
Data collecting approach
To obtain the data, we used a checklist, which helped us collect data quickly and clearly. We identified actions and listed potential findings that we might get during sessions. In each session, we observed the actions and ticked them off on the checklist. Then, we analyzed the data to see which actions were more frequent.
We also used observation to collect data by monitoring toddlers' behavior during sessions, documenting information through photos and videos, and registering their speeches.
We also utilize the OAP Cycle (Owen, 2021 ), which is an observation, assessment, and planning cycle. It is an individual assessment that allows us to support children's learning and development while following their interests and planning for their next steps.
Data collection tools/resources
The data was collected through ten heuristic play sessions with three learners, which enabled to collect the qualitative data. We chose a time when children were fed, changed, and rested, a time when they were likely to be more settled. We offered heuristic play sessions twice a week and sessions were set up away from distractions and noise. This allows the children to concentrate on and explore the equipment. We used pedagogical documentation as the main tool; for this reason, we documented learners´ productions as well as their explanations with photos, videos, and notes. We divided the research protocol into three phases: 1. Collect data/Apply the protocol. Record the session video or photo to document the process. 2. Analyze data 3. Reflection/Develop strategies to assist the child in cognitive development.
Emerging results
Throughout the heuristic play sessions, we found that children had a lot of opportunities to improve their cognitive abilities. Sustained attention, working memory, inhibitory control, empathy, resilience, language, and problem-solving were some of the mental skills observed in the sessions.
By being exposed to different objects with different textures, weights, sizes, and shapes, they had the opportunity to enrich their sensory experiences, in addition to being encouraged, through the wide variety of countable and non-countable materials, to improve their curiosity, stimulated by the desire to discover and experiment.
However, throughout the sessions and their respective observations, we realized that the children's investigations were focused on mathematical concepts. Sorting, classifying, number sense, volume, spatial sense, subtraction, and estimation were some of the maths concepts that we could observe throughout the sessions. Rigby (2022) states that an environment rich in opportunities and attractive materials encourages the exploration of basic mathematical concepts such as counting, comparing, and classifying, among others.
Rigby (2022) argues that providing environments rich in mathematical opportunities enables children to exercise creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving, that is, higher cognitive functions.
Observing how children play and create their theories during heuristic play sessions demonstrated that providing learning environments that can stimulate mathematical thinking, imagination, creativity, concentration, attention, and memory benefits the development of higher cognitive skills, helping develop emotionally intelligent children, capable of suppressing impulses and thinking before acting, adapting to new situations and changing strategies when needed.
Reflections
The most profound thing we learned during the protocol was that giving the learners space to explore their work is critical to develop their thinking further and potentialize their learning. Besides, we observed that heuristic play is an essential aspect of cognitive development. Children can explore the heuristic tools and unfold their potential by providing a safe, stress-free environment. We also reflected that heuristic play gives children the opportunity to make their discoveries in an environment where they can develop different ways of exploring the properties of objects and be creative in the way they play objects together. The heuristic game gives children the opportunity to experience an environment where they can develop different ways of being creative and expressive in the management of a variety of objects. During heuristic play sessions, children did not have to share or take turns. There was plenty of equipment and sets of the same thing, so there was no need for children to negotiate equipment use. We observed that our heuristic play sessions promoted the skills of concentration, exploration, problem-solving, trial and error, spatial sense, sorting, and estimation rather than social skills such as sharing, taking turns, and negotiating.
