EEF blog: It’s my playdough!
‘It’s my playdough!’
This is a familiar cry heard in early years settings, which can often quickly lead to further disagreement, disruption and sometimes aggression. It’s perhaps more common in the aftermath of Impact of COVID-19, amongst 2 – 4‑year-olds who have missed out on opportunities to socialise.
So, what do you do?
Take the playdough away?
Move the child to somewhere else?
Tell them to stop arguing?
Falling out over playdough may not feel like a significant event to an adult, but to a child, it can trigger strong emotions and reactions.
‘It’s my playdough!’ is just one of 140 short videos in the new EEF Early Years Evidence Store. This video shows how Jayne, an experienced early years educator at Roberttown Community Preschool, is using an evidence-informed teaching approach to help young children manage their emotions.
Through timely intervention, careful positioning and sensitive interaction, Jayne connects with the children, moving alongside the child where she can use key vocabulary to name emotions and explain what is happening. She involves other children to suggest how the problem could be resolved. Jayne then scaffolds how to share, take turns, meet a compromise and negotiate.
Jayne uses this approach at the playdough table, when playing with blocks, whilst sharing a book, outside in the mud-kitchen and water play.
How do we support children to manage their emotions?
The summary of evidence underpinning the Evidence Store tells us that interactions between child and educator are an important factor when children are learning to regulate their emotions. Early educators can support children by modelling how to express feelings in new ways. Increased turn-taking during conversations about emotions help to mediate children’s ability to regulate their own emotions – particularly for children experiencing disadvantage.
These ‘intentional’ adult interactions might take place in role play, creating scenarios using puppets, when sharing stories or within daily routines. Conversations with children about different ways to express or change an emotion are an important part of children learning to apply these successfully.
In the new EEF Early Years Evidence Store, developed as part of the EEF’s work as an evidence partner for the DfE’s Stronger Practice Hubs, you will find more exemplification videos like ‘It’s my playdough!’. As we view and reflect, we will see familiar early years teaching approaches that we know from the evidence are likely to improve outcomes for young children.
Shining a spotlight on these explicit teaching approaches and practices can help children manage their emotions, build knowledge and learn successfully. When early years educators are unsure how to respond to a child who is struggling socially and emotionally, these ‘best bets’ may support their teaching and next steps.
Professional conversations … about purposeful play
Bitesize professional conversations are just one way in which early years educators in the Stronger Practice Hubs are using the exemplification films in the Evidence Store to address the disadvantage gap in early years.
WATCH – ‘It’s my playdough’ – Use the video to start a conversation.
DISCUSS – Reflect on what you see in your own setting.
LEARN – Read the evidence summary for PSED and then find out from the Evidence Store which teaching approaches are recommended.
REVIEW – Find out what the evidence suggests about the teaching approaches that work well.
QUESTION – What practices could help you to implement the evidence-informed teaching approach in your setting?
