A Unique Child: What a child might be doing

Being involved and concentrating

  • Showing curiosity about objects, events and people
  • Using senses to explore the world around them
  • Engaging in open-ended activity
    Showing particular interests

Keeping on trying

  • Showing a deep drive to know more about people and their world
  • Maintaining focus on their activity for a period of time
  • Showing high levels of involvement, energy, fascination
  • Not easily distracted
  • Paying attention to details

Enjoying achieving what they set out to do

  • Showing satisfaction in meeting their own goals (I can!)
  • Being proud of how they accomplished something – not just the end result
  • Enjoying meeting challenges for their own sake rather than external rewards or praise (intrinsic motivation)

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Positive Relationships: What adults might do

•   Support babies and children to look into what they are curious about and what fascinates them.
•   Encourage children to express interests, cultures, identities and histories that are meaningful to them through their activities.
•   Make time for quality interactions. Watch and listen carefully to try to understand what the child wants to know or achieve.
•   Help focus a baby or young child’s interest through shared attention. At times sensitively introduce a new element if young children’s interest is waning.
•   Help children to notice details.
•   Model a growth mindset. Help children to see mistakes or failures as stepping stones for learning. Help children see there is more than one answer to a problem. Demonstrate openly how adults do not get everything right.
•   Be specific when giving praise, especially noting effort such as how the child concentrates, tries different approaches, persists, solves problems, and has new ideas.
•   Support emotional resilience in the face of challenge, e.g. “That must have been frustrating after you worked so hard. I wonder how else you could try it.”
•   Children bring their own motivations to their play. Play alongside and narrate what children are doing, talking about what’s happening rather than directing.
•   Step back and watch what children are doing. Be sensitive to when to join in sensitively following children’s lead, and when to leave them to it. Be careful not to disrupt their play and train of thought.
•   Be aware that babies and children may want to watch before, or rather than, taking part in some activities.
•   Look out for signs that young children show satisfaction in something they have done.
•   Provide opportunities for children to celebrate with their peers what they are doing and learning – not just focus on the end result.

Enabling environments: What adults might provide

•   A familiar environment and predictable routine give children confidence to take charge of their own activities.
•   Teach children how to use the areas of provision and tools within them appropriate to their age and stage, so they can use them independently for their own goals.
•   Children will become more deeply involved when you provide something that is new and unusual for them to explore, especially when it is linked to their interests, culture or identity.
•   Notice what arouses children’s curiosity, looking for signs of deep involvement to identify learning that is intrinsically motivated.
•   Ensure children have time and freedom to become deeply involved in activities.
•   Provide calm and reduce stimuli if children become over-stimulated.
•   Children can maintain focus on things that interest them over a period of time. Help them to keep ideas in mind by talking over photographs of their previous activities.
•   Keep projects current and accessible, rather than tidying away.
•   Make space and time for all children to contribute.
•   Setting leaders should provide opportunities for staff to actively engage in their own learning to better support children’s activity.