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Exploratory play is a way for a child to learn about their environment. They do this by touching
things, pushing things over, putting things in their mouths… The motto of exploratory
play is ‘what happens if I do this…?’ That feeling you get when you see a big red
button and you want to press it, or a strange object and you want to touch it… That’s
exploratory play. This is what babies and young children spend a lot of their time doing,
because so many things are new and interesting to them. It’s part of the brain’s hardwiring
that we want to know the physical properties of things around us. This makes a surprisingly
strong impulse. You may have no memory of trying to eat a coin, or lick the carpet,
but you probably have a good idea of what they would taste like. Thank your baby self
for that knowledge. If you hadn’t gathered this information then, you would still now
have a weird desire to know…. What does carpet taste like?
This type of play is important for children’s development and learning, providing the basic
background information of what the world is like. It is this type of play that will enable
children to begin to learn about cause and effect - by piling objects and seeing how
they fall down, shaking objects and hearing the sound they make, pressing big red buttons
and seeing what happens. Children can be supported and encouraged in
this by being given different objects to handle. This is extra useful if the objects have an
interesting texture, or make a sound when they are moved. Children under two will also
want to put these objects in their mouths, so its important to make sure that the object
will be safe for this. And safe in general. Children with physical or visual impairment
can particularly benefit from support with this type of play, if they are unable to independently
reach for or move towards things that interest them.
It can be difficult for the parent to step back enough to allow the child the chance
to really explore - there’s always the temptation to try to teach the child how to do something
properly. Resist! They will not be missing out on opportunities to learn - In fact, letting
the child take the lead in play allows them to explore the ideas they want to learn about.
This might mean you hand your child a paintbrush, but instead of trying to paint, they throw
it across the room - perhaps they are exploring different ways that objects move! Keeping
the child safe, while still encouraging this exploration will set the child on the right
path for a lifetime of learning.