Schemas and schematic play – how your toddler makes sense of the world

Your toddler’s movement helps them learn about the world – so how does moving around link to your toddler’s schemas (and what even is a schema)? 

You might have heard people talking about schemas or schematic play and maybe even heard things about a particular schema – trajectory, enclosure, rotation and others.  

The idea of schemas is linked to psychologist Piaget’s explanation of cognitive development. He suggested that young children use mental frameworks as they categorise and learn about the world.^[1] 

Your toddler might have an animal schema, and within this have a dogs and cats category. At first, they might call all medium-sized, four legged animals cats, but as you comment, “Oh yes, a dog”, they will realise that some of these are dogs.  As they have more experience, they will refine these categories.^[2] For instance, they may start to be specific about the dog category as they chat about next door’s poodle or the Labrador you saw at the park. 

So where does schematic play come into this?  

The idea of schematic play links to this categorisation. Your toddler is learning about themselves, other people and the world. And, doing the same thing again and again helps with this learning.  

Sometimes this repetition looks like your toddler is doing exactly the same thing over and over, but they can also be exploring the same idea in different ways.  

It could be an interest in covering things (or containment), which you’ll see when your toddler puts their toys in a bag (and won’t take them out to play!), when they cover themselves with a blanket, squeeze into a space under a table or try to get in a cupboard. 

The fantastic thing about thinking about your toddler’s play in terms of schemas is that it helps you to see what they are learning about right now.  

Learning about position with movement (also known as developing a position schema) 

This could be where the fun really starts (maybe more for your toddler than for you at times!).  

Your toddler is learning about position – they might explore this by putting objects in different places (make sure you put your remote control and keys out of reach, so you don’t find yourself searching for them in the bin/cupboard/toybox).  

They might also find out about position by putting themselves in different places.  

So, alongside a desire to climb to develop physical skills, your toddler might climb for other reasons, for example, to answer the question – what does 'on top' feel like?  

Watch your toddler and see if you can spot a connection in what they do  

They might put toys, objects and themselves on top, inside or underneath. If you notice an interest, you could give them more ways to explore it – if on top is their thing now you could go to the park or play centre a bit more often for new climbing spaces.  

Don’t forget that your toddler really doesn’t understand what could happen as a result of their exploration.  

They won’t realise that your phone might be damaged by being put in the bin, or that a wobbly table isn’t the best place to learn about on top.  

Do encourage your toddler’s curiosity as they move around, but be alongside them to help them explore and keep them (and your phone) safe.  

References: 

[1] Boyd, D.G. & Bee, H.L. (2014) The Developing Child (13th edn.) Harlow: Pearson Education.  

[2] Halpenny, A.M. & Pettersen, J. (2014) Introducing Piaget. A guide for practitioners and students in early years education. London: Routledge.