ABOUT OUR EXPERT
Mrs Tan-Chua is the Principal of Living Sanctuary Kindergarten and an ECDA Fellow. She believes that all types of play promote exploration and thinking in children. She seeks to create a culture of innovation to help the early childhood sector grow.
Setting up diverse learning centres — such as art corners, reading nooks, science centres, dramatic play areas or outdoor garden patches — is an effective way to stimulate children’s curiosity. These centres help children make sense of the world around them through various types of play. Such experiences foster a sense of wonder, engagement, appreciation and creativity.
Consider these points when setting up early childhood learning centres at your preschool.
1
PROVIDE MEANINGFUL PRETEND PLAY
In pretend play, children act out real-world scenarios and practise making decisions, solving problems and navigating their emotions.
Real-life settings in learning centres allow children to connect and relate to the world around them. For instance, you can recreate a supermarket or clinic and have children role-play a cashier or a doctor. Extend play with questions like “What ingredients can we buy to replace the missing items in our shopping list?”, which develops their problem-solving and social skills. Including non-fiction books related to the learning centre’s theme further enriches their experiences.
2
PLAN CHALLENGING TASKS
Extend children’s learning by encouraging them to come up with questions and find out the answers. For instance, at the science corner, supply a variety of items such as natural specimens (e.g. plants, seeds), magnifying glasses, measuring tapes and recording sheets to promote observation, prediction and experimentation. Ensure that the materials are age-appropriate and safe to handle.
3
OFFER AMPLE SPACE AND PROPS
Props and costumes can enhance and sustain children’s engagement in imaginative play.
Make sure there is ample space for group play and collaboration. Loose parts, manipulatives and photos of play ideas can stimulate children’s imagination and inspire new ideas.
4
ENCOURAGE PEER INTERACTION
Group play is important for developing teamwork and conflict resolution skills.
Design open-ended tasks for pair or group play. For example, at the construction corner, challenge children to build a tower that can support a small toy or provide activity cards with similar problem-solving activities. These will encourage them to build on each other’s ideas and collaborate to complete a task.
5
PRACTISE REFLECTION
Use children’s responses to assess if the learning centre has achieved its objectives and desired outcomes. The information can be used to modify its resources or plan extension activities to build on children’s learning.
