“If by materials we want to indicate everything that can be used to make something, that serves to produce, to invent, to build, we would have to talk about everything that surrounds us, from water to land, from stones to animals, from body to words … even to meadows and clouds ” (Tonucci, 1990 en Vila & Cardo 2005, p.47).
Natural materials are all those objects that are part of our life, give quality to creativity and games, such as kitchen utensils, food, objects that nature offers us, etc. (Vila & Cardo, 2005). However, we are going to focus on those ones nature gives us, among others, we will mainly have pinecones, sticks and stones.
Since, as stated in decree 143/2007 of the BOC (2007), one of the pedagogical principles, of this stage of Early Childhood Education, is that children discover the physical and social characteristics of the environment in which they live, something that we will carry out through the manipulation and experimentation of these natural materials.
As stated by Vila & Cardo (2005), those materials are beneficial for several reasons: they offer a wide variety of sensations when manipulated, they have various qualities that market materials do not offer, they help to create play spaces, they stimulate creativity, curiosity and the desire to learn, they also offer information about the environment in which we find ourselves and make us use the exterior spaces of the school as educational places. In addition, we have them at our disposal and they are cheap.
And, we cannot forget that, “children need to explore the environment to know and understand the reality that surrounds them, enjoying a manipulative game, while creating their own experiences on the qualities of each element” (Sugrañes et al, 2012, p.74). For this reason, it is very enriching to open the school to the natural context that surrounds us.
“The persistence of the same material cannot stimulate the child to maintain his interest, nor can it satisfy the lively and tireless curiosity he has for the world around him, of which he is increasingly aware” (Goldschmied, 2000, p.49).
Finally, we would meet one of the objectives set out in article 5 of the curriculum of the first cycle of Early Childhood Education: h) Encourage the development of sensory and
perceptual capacities to promote curiosity about the immediate environment and the elements that make it up. configure, attributing a significance to them.
In conclusion, all these natural materials also allow us to work on the contents of the different areas of the curriculum, such as logical-mathematical or artistic expression.
Goldschmied, E. y Jackson, S. (2000). La educación infantil de 0 a 3 años. Madrid: Morata.
Sugrañes, E., Alós, M., Andrés, N., Casal, S., Castrillo, C., Medina, N. & Yuste, M. 2012. Observar para interpretar. Actividades de vida cotidiana para la educación infantil (2-6). Barcelona: Graó
Vila, B., & Cardo, C. (2005). Materiales de exploración. En B. V. Cardo, Material sensorial (0-3 años) Manipulación y experimentación (pp. 47- 49). Barcelona: Graó
We define materials as «the wide range of objects that are accessible to children. We also include the instruments and objects that might be useful, so that through their handling, observation, reading…learning opportunities might appear. Their value comes from the possibilities they provide, both for performing and relating.» (Red territorial de Educación Infantil en Cataluña, 2012).
Among materials, we can find many types, as some might allow you to experience, others might be better to develop logical thinking, representation or oral language and some might improve your plastic expression. However, this essay is going to focus on natural and daily materials. «Natural materials are those that we can find in our immediate environment. In other words, we are talking about objects that are not only in the nature, but also daily life objects” (Materiales sensoriales 3-6 años: manipulación y experimentación, 2005).
Besides, there is a wide range of natural materials, more than one could imagine. For example, some of them could be stones, sand, pasta, sticks, grass, soil, shells or cooking utensils, among many others. Thanks to natural materials, kids have a chance to explore the world they are surrounded by while interacting with these objects. This type of materials offer numerous benefits, from the sensory point of view to the playful one.
One of their greatest benefits is that they allow children to learn the real properties of each material. For example, if a classroom works with natural sand, kids will learn about its texture, smell, weight…while purchased or false materials do not give us that chance. On the other hand, if we discover reality through its properties, we must give children the opportunity to interact with natural materials and see what happens.
It is also worth noticing that one of the great benefits that comes with taking natural materials to the classroom is the great sensory capability that provides. Purchased materials cannot provide that, even when they try to imitate natural ones. In fact, these natural materials teach children about their environment, as well as helping them establish relationships between what they will find both inside and outside the classroom (Red Territorial de Educación Infantil en Cataluña, 2012 quoted in Ceballos, 2019).
To sum up, natural materials promote action, playing, curiosity, experimentation and learning. They also spark critical thinking in them, as they decide how to use those materials freely as they are presented to them so they can handle them. (Materiales sensoriales 3-6 años: manipulación y experimentación, 2005)
References
Ceballos, N. (2019). Materiales. [Material docente]. Recuperado del sitio web de Universidad de Cantabria, Aula Virtual, Moodle.
Florez, C. C., & Saborit, B. V. (2005). Materiales de exploración. En Florez, C. C., & Saborit, B. V. Material sensorial (0-3 años): Manipulación y experimentación (Vol. 8) (47-49). Barcelona: Graó.
Authorship
Sara Aragón Ruiz de Villa, Rebeca Barros y Celia Gómez, 2020.
Before we start explaining and going deeper into the natural materials in the game, we must start from the premise that natural materials are an inexhaustible source of stimuli for children.
The use of natural materials in the Infant Education classroom is the theme chosen for the documentation process. We are interested in knowing the benefits of the use of natural materials in the classroom, discovering their advantages and how to use them as learning tools.
Natural materials are all those materials found in nature. There are three types: vegetable, animal and mineral materials.
Natural materials as an educational medium allow the child to get closer to the environment, to the context that surrounds them and to know its characteristics. In addition, thanks to them they learn that it is possible to play with elements provided by nature, they discover that the same material can be used for many things, that it is not necessary to buy materials or toys since these are always at their disposal and they discover that they are just as interesting, if not more so, than artificial materials.
These natural materials allow children to know and enter into one of the problems that is affecting us most, the environment. That children learn the value of reusing and recycling is essential to curb these environmental problems, such as climate change, pollution, deforestation, water shortages, species extinction … is fundamental, since they are the future and the sooner they understand the importance of having an environmental view, the greater the change.
In addition to the above, natural materials benefit and enhance children’s ability to observe, explore and learn by discovery.
We emphasize the importance of learning by discovery, through which students will possess knowledge or ideas as they discover them for themselves. The school has a fundamental responsibility and it is to manage to make each child think critically and creatively.
One way to guide children towards the construction of their own schemes is that they discover the knowledge by themselves, since in this way they will be able to organize the information and relate it to previous knowledge. In conclusion, they will be able to learn and organize information in order to use that knowledge later in the most correct way.
Learning by discovery generates and strengthens children’s self-confidence, as well as intellectual stimulation and motivation for conflict resolution, which will lead to the formation of creative thinking.
Therefore, working with natural materials, materials that are normally known by the students, simple, easily accessible and with numerous possibilities of use, is fundamental for them to construct their own meanings.
In the daily life of the youngest, there are an infinite number of experiences and materials that can be used to enhance the acquisition of knowledge and the development of critical thinking, such as, for example, a leaf floating in the water, how the leaves of the trees change according to the season?
As teachers we must start from these situations and use the different natural materials with activities that promote different knowledge and learning. We must program and plan the activities in relation to the stage of Infant Education to which it is directed and always taking into account their own interests; collect, organize and prepare the natural materials that we consider appropriate in relation to the season, the knowledge we intend to convey, etc.
It is essential to present the different materials with care, well organized, clean and with an easy access to them. In addition, to create a good atmosphere in the classroom, it is necessary to take into account the richness and variety of the materials, which are familiar to them, and, above all, we must avoid over-stimulation or, on the contrary, the absence of it. A safe, comfortable environment, with good lighting and temperature so that infants can, thanks to the possibility of these natural materials, group, sort, classify, manipulate, introduce, roll… relate and interact with their peers and with adults, perform symbolic play, concentrate and develop skills with different challenges that these involve, and a long list of etceteras.
The documentation refers to “a process that makes the daily activities, challenges, possibilities, processes and thoughts of children and adults visible and that is open to debate and reflection” (Carr and Lee 2012; Dahlberg, Moss and Pence 2007; Picchio, Di Giandomenico and Musatti 2014; Rinaldi 1998).
This process is relevant both to give visibility to the work of the school to people outside it or not, and to study the processes that are carried out within it. Since the documentation process allows to show the idea of school and childhood, it allows people to have a glimpse of what idea of education they want to show. This is why this documentation process is going to focus on the materials used by children in children´s school (0-3 years).
Materials are a fundamental part in the 0-3-year stage, they are instruments that serve as a resource for manipulation, observation, reading, etc., in this way offering different opportunities to learn, due to the possibilities of action that these provided to students. Authors such as Doménech and Viñas (1997), consider that materials have a very important role in the teaching-learning process and considering their mediating role between the educator and the surrounding environment.
In the 0-3-year stage, the children spend much of their time playing, and it is important that they in turn unconsciously develop different capacities in their development. For this development to take place it is necessary that the materials are presented in a way that captures their attention and it is at their disposal as long as they require it, it is also essential to make a good choice of the materials that are going to be presented to the students in the classroom, so that in this way learning, action, the relationships between equals, play, etc. are promoted.
The materials on which we will focus to carry out this documentation process will be natural materials, that is, objects that come from nature and, therefore, the child can find in their daily life, such as leaves, rocks, sand, sticks., etc. We will also focus on artificial materials, these are made from natural materials, such as paper, cardboard, glass or plastic.
The symbolic game as a starting point. Breaking down the word we could talk about two concepts: On the one hand, play, a fundamental need for every child to know and grab or own the world around them, is the engine of development. On the other hand, symbolic, “to pretend”, it is about all that reality created by the children. According to J. Piaget (1896-1.980), this process corresponds to the balance between assimilation and accommodation. That is to say, face a stimulus from the environment and then modify our behavior by adjusting to external conditions.
This type of game appears, according to the stages of Piaget’s cognitive development at the end of the sensory motor period, prior to the preoperative period, between 2 and 7 years, but spontaneously as the subject acquires the notion of permanent object, simulating non-existent situations, people or objects. The child understands that even though the object is not in front of their eyes, it still exists. In addition, there is a subdivision in stages of: pre symbolic game and symbolic game.
There is a succession of stages according to their evolutionary age, depending on whether they play alone or in the company of adults or their peers (individual game in solitude, parallel to both children but unrelated or shared and cooperative), whether they are structured games or without organizational logic, and the presence or disappearance of egocentricity and social roles. All these, with common objectives of promoting meaningful learning, benefiting fine motor skills, allowing socialization and a new way of communicating.
Symbolic play has great benefits in child development, stimulates creativity and imagination, through games that involve roles, dialogues, creation of characters and descriptions. Like, for example, such as playing moms and dads, doctor cures, creating a hairdresser, dressing up, simulating scenes from everyday life, etc. They begin by simulating everyday scenes, then they include fictitious roles and emotions. Later they substitute objects and create complex scenery.
All these allow the subject to represent mental situations and develop cognitive skills, as well as promote the effective use of spoken language, since they generate rich interactions in the narration of roles and negotiation. This interpersonal intelligence generates an increase in their socio-emotional capacity.
The whole set of indirect learning that we achieve with symbolic play reveals the positive consequences for early childhood: enrichment lexical resources,vocabulary in vocabulary, stimulation of symbolic language, creativity, imagination, social skills (friendship, empathy and cooperation), increased intellectual and motor capacity. It helps to structure thinking, assimilate new behaviors, influence curiosity, experiment and need to know reality. Possibilities for action are not limited, quite the opposite. Children’s freedom emerges and helps to forge their own personality and identity. Based on your abilities and interests.
Children during early childhood develop a multitude of types of games, but the game par excellence from 2 years to 7 years is the so-called symbolic game. This consists of a type of game that arises naturally, boys and girls imitate situations, objects and characters that are not present at the time, using various materials that are within their reach and developing their imagination capacity.
Despite the fact that the symbolic game is the game par excellence from the age of 2, it appears earlier specifically around 8 months with the pre-symbolic game. Normally, boys and girls carry out this type of activity because of their proximity to the situations raised (Pecci et al, s.f).
There are a lot of benefits to be found about the use of symbolic play in early childhood classrooms.
Understand and assimilate the world around them, as well as the different roles established in the lives of adults (Pecci et al, s.f).
Social skills, encouraging cooperation and socialization (Roldan, 2020).
Problem solving and thus working on decision making (Roldan, 2020).
Language development, since when carrying out the symbolic game they usually verbalize what they are doing (Pecci et al, s.f).
Express your feelings through developing empathy and channeling of emotions (Roldan, 2020).
Develop the imagination and creativity of children (Pecci et al, s.f).
Within the symbolic game we can find a great variety of games, such as playing kitchen, moms and dads, imitating different professions, animals, wearing costumes, among others (Mama Juana Banana, s.f).
Pecci, Mª.C., Herrero, T., López, M. & Mozos, A. (s.f). El juego en el desarrollo infantil. En Mª.C. Pecci, T. Herrero, M. López & A. Mozos. (E.d) El juego infantil y su metodología. McGraw-Hill Interamericana de España. https://bit.ly/38YWAsG
Roldan, M.J. (2020, junio 11). Que es el juego simbólico: etapas y ejemplos. ParaBebés. https://bit.ly/3nGp3Ym
Authorship
Ana Ruiz Domingo, Tania Barrigón Ruiz y Nerea Agüera Rodríguez, 2020.
The game according to Piaget (1996) is very relationed to child development because it is an essential element for the correct physical and psychological development of the minor. Also, he confirms that this element allows the child to form his/her personality besides to know the characteristics of the environment around him in a more effective way. In relation with education, this author establishes that the game helps the kid to acquire his/her motor, mental, social, affective and emotional skills, besides awakening his/her interest for observing and exploring the world that surrounds them. In this way, López (2010) confirms that:
The game is converted in a process of discovery of the outside reality in that the child is forming and reconstructing progressively his/her concepts about the world. Besides, it helps him/her to discover his/herself and to form his/her personality.
Focusing on the process of documentation, the symbolic game inside the stages of development established by Piaget, the symbolic game is in the preoperational stage (2-7 years old) (Valdés, 2014). It is in which the kid recreates the reality, he/she plays “as if…”. In it, the kid reproduces situations of daily life in which appears complex subjects such as illness, death, household problems….
In this way, the game itself can help them to experiment their emotions, recreate and treat conflicting issues which they will have to live with. They recreate situations which allow them to prepare for the moment when they have to live it.
Freud talks about the symbolic game as a part of the reality represented in a particular way in which the kid creates and organizes his/her own world (Landeira, 1998). In the same way, Piaget (cited in Bofarull, 2014) considered that the symbolic game is like the key moment of the child’s game in which they create his/her own world through which they assimilate the real world, the “adult world”. In it they assume different roles without the limitations imposed by the grown-ups. On the other hand, Vidal (2014) defines it as that game in which the objects are transformed into not present elements.
To sum up, the authors mentioned above agree that symbolic games are a very important part of childhood, in which the most important things are not the objects or the actions but what the child represents with it.
Game, as Huizinga mentioned (1984), is a voluntary activity with spatial and temporal limits, based on a freely accepted rule and a goal. In it, feelings of joy, tension, as well as the awareness of experiencing something different from what is happening in life, are developed. This activity, quite the opposite of the fame it has received in education, is not a harmful occupation that should be reduced. Free play is fundamental to children’s development, therefore should not be the activity they have access when they have finished what the teacher considers academic because it does not allow them to carry out an activity that is very necessary for their growth. Besides, the game should not be used as a pseudo-game to work on curricular content because it loses its essence and denatures the activity (Hoyuelos, 2015). In this sense, it is necessary to be clear about the idea that the author explains that playing is uncertain, unpredictable activity and this is what makes it so fascinating. In these moments of free play children imagine what might happen, they feel differently, try things out, imagine, etc. Children use the game to go through paths that otherwise wouldn’t be possible (Hoyuelos, 2015).
Furthermore, through play, children put into practice their ability to see everything around them from a poetic perspective, even when the topics are as complicated as loneliness, abandonment, friendship, etc. On many occasions children use play as a tool to address all those topics not considered for children. However, we are not aware of the great capacity for understanding and poetic process, which is surprisingly natural, that children develop through play to deal with such topics that we consider inappropriate for their age. Another characteristic of this activity is that it is typical of childhood because adults can not play, we try to represent it in the best possible way, but we do not be part of the game as children do. We may, therefore, be constantly asking ourselves what the purpose of this is, as if it had to be an activity based on logic. This does not mean that the game is incoherent, on the contrary, those who are immersed in it are able to perceive and interpret its meaning (Hoyuelos, 2015)
On the other hand, at the moments of free play children will be influenced by their age and the materials provided. They may develop pre-symbolic or symbolic play, although the latter increases between the ages of two and five (Gallardo & Gallardo, 2018). Moreover, it is essential to bear in mind that different types of materials lead to different types of play.
References
Gallardo, P & Gallardo, J.A. (2018). Teorías sobre el juego y su importancia como recurso educativo para el desarrollo integral infantil. Revista Educativa Hekademos, 24.
Hoyuelos, A. (2015). Cultura de la infancia y ámbitos de juego. En Hoyuelo, A y Riera, M.A. Complejidad y relaciones en educación infantil. Barcelona: Rosa Sensat.
Huizinga, J. (1984). Homo Ludens. Madrid: Alianza.
Authorship
Sofía Cuevas Llorente y Lucía Martínez Gutiérrez, 2020.
In the 31st Article of the Convention of the Rights of the Child it is established their right to have a spontaneous and free play. Moreover, Molina (2008) declares the transforming power that this kind of play has on the children, for it is through this type of activity that they represent their own reality. Since in Early Childhood Education our goal is the whole growth of the children, free-play must be seen and taken into account as a right and a need that helps that process. Therefore, it is essential to recognise the value of this moment while not forgetting the school context.
The teachers of Early Childhood Education consider free-play as an educational moment that favours the evolutive growth of the children. Hence, there is more implication from these professionals when observing and evaluating this moment as an educative activity. Nonetheless, in the school reality, the lack of help from the administrative team, the possible judgment of the families and the limit that the school hours impose are the main barriers that the professionals have to get over to be able to offer spaces and moments of meaningful and rewarding free-play to the children (Mañós, Balagué, Virgili, & Montalá, 2019).
From our own experience as teachers in the practicum, this moment, the free-play, was not taken as a valuable one. Instead, it was carried out in the spare time when the kids had finished their assignments. Form another point of view, the free-play acquires a strict concept as it is guided with a lot of rules imposed by the teachers. This changes its dynamic and it turns it into a guided activity where there is no place for the children’s experimentation and creativity. Therefore, their needs are not fulfilled.
Free-play, according to Cuba & Palpa (2015) and with our agreement as students of Education, are as follow: it is a natural and individual process given that the kids are the protagonists of their own actions; through the symbolic play children can create their own conceptual schemes; this must be an enjoyable and pleasant moment for the children; it must have a flexibility that allows the kids to do and undo everything as the want; finally, free-play is not a way through which the children obtain a goal, but it has meaning in itself. All these characteristics can and should be applicable to an Early Education classroom. Therefore, we believe that we must leave behind the concept that the free-play
is something the kids can do when there is nothing left to do, but a moment that has a meaning in itself.
And now, we will present to you a design of a free-play documentation that we can do in our classrooms of Early Childhood Education. This will be a guide about how to document this natural process in the school context.
First of all, our study subject will be our own Early Childhood Education classroom, specifically a classroom of three years olds. Our main goal is to do follow up of this group throughout the nine months of school period. The documentation will be done using a register notebook in which we will write down the visible behaviours that we may believe are more meaningful while free-playing.
The end of this process will be presented to the families of the children through an expositive panel, which will be exposed at the entrance of the classroom, and will be updated every month. In addition to this, we will use a PowerPoint presentation which will be shown to the families in every trimestral meeting. This format will allow us to add photos and videos that will guide the narration of the story that will be told. Each of these formats will answer to certain needs and different moments.
Given that free-play is more productive and enjoyable when presented with certain natural and spontaneous scenarios we will offer some that will be adequate to the kids and efficient when documenting. These proposals will be followed by these rules. First of all, free-play must have a time assigned within our classroom schedule. It is essential that this process of playing does not take place in the same classroom every single time, therefore the children can have the opportunity of experimenting in other places such as the playground, halls, other groups’ classrooms, library. This process will help the kids acquire a sense of continuity that will reinforce their sense of belonging to the school and to the group that they are in. It is also very important that the resources given to the kids (toys and other materials) are available and accessible to the children for them to make use of them.
As teachers, we try to interpret and explain the meanings behind the actions of the kids while the process of play occurs. From a more objective point of view, we will tell systematically, the actions that take place while playing. So, the information that we be shown in the panels, will be more objective. This means that, once every meaningful fact
(if possible) is written down in our notebook, they will be selected attending to the following questions: what did theydo? how did they do it? with what? with whom? When did it happen?
Nevertheless, with the trimestral meeting PowerPoint presentation we will be showing a more subjective perspective of the interpretations of the kids’ actions when they play. This presentation will answer to the next questions: why did they do it? why didn’t they do that? why does each child act in a different way to the same stimulus? what do they want to achieve? This way, we try to inform the families about the innate behaviour of childhood through free-playing and our pedagogical interpretation of it.
We will present the information, as we mentioned earlier, through an expositive panel and a PowerPoint presentation. The first one will be presented in an A3 paper. We will attach photos of the children playing with a brief descriptive text of what they are doing. These will be in a chronological order. Whereas the PowerPoint presentation will be more of a visual support to help the families follow the story that the teachers will be telling with it (photos and videos). This way of presenting the information will also help the families understand the meanings and representations that their children’s actions have when the interact in a natural environment such a free-play.
To sum up, we would like to point out the importance of documenting and making visible the daily practice of playing in school. Furthermore, we urge to rethink, reinterpret and reflect about what happens in school so we can make some changes and aim to a better and more productive, as well as enjoyable (for the children) future. Also, we aim to make the families aware of their kids’ actions in school since they do not act the same way in different contexts.
References
Cuba, M, N. L., & Palpa, M, E. (2015). La hora del juego libre en los sectores y el desarrollo de la creatividad en los niños de 5 años de las IEP de la localidad de Santa Clara.
Mañós, R. V., Balagué, À. G., Virgili, N. A., & Montalá, M. D. (2019). Percepción de los maestros sobre el derecho al juego libre en educación infantil y educación primaria.
Estudio desarrollado en Barcelona (España). Bordón. Revista de Pedagogía, 71(4), 151- 165.
Molina, J. A. (2008). El Placer y el Displacer en el Juego Espontáneo Infantil/Pleasure and Displeasure in Children’s Spontaneous Play. Arteterapia, 3, 167-188.
Unicef. (2006). Convención sobre los Derechos del Niño.
Authorship
Alejandra Albo, Claudia Biancotti y Verónica Cuesta, 2020.
The chosen topic has been the product of the desire to want to discuss, debate and reflect on the importance of spaces in the educational center. Due to the need to want to go beyond the classroom, which seems to always be the protagonist, and get closer and give visibility to the many spaces and facilities that are also part of the life ofthe center and where very interesting stories are also told.
The concept “facilities” has to do with the complexes of buildings and infrastructures of a certain place. In this case, from an educational center with students from 0 to 3 years old. With this concept, classrooms, corridors, recreation areas … are taken into account. However, with this work, we have wanted to go further. We have wanted to combine formal and legislative aspects that must be kept in mind when building an educational institution (measures, materials, architectural elements …) But we have also seen it necessary to reflect how each space is and how it influences children and their relationship with spaces, with their peers and with teachers.
We also wanted to convey the need for certain spaces to exist in the center what, a priori, They may not seem very important, but they really add a lot of richness to the school experience for little ones.
We wanted to base this work on a series of ideas that summarize our work and our intention with it:
How and in what way does the need to build schools comes up and how the works and pedagogies of certain authors have influenced it.
Identify the most common facilities in educational centers, as well as their functionality, their use and the reason for their need.
Identify the less commonly facilities present in schools and investigate why does it happen and why they should or should not have more presence in the centers.
The meaning that the different spaces of the center have not only for the children, but for all the staff and those who participate in its life.
Regulations and guidelines to comply with for the projection of a center.
The numerous conceptualizations that appears when projecting spaces.