Children's Rainbow Village Family Childcare

Heuristic play is a part of children's natural curiosity, to explore and manipulate objects which will in turn provide opportunities to develop critical thinking, sensory stimulation, fine motor skills, gain autonomy, creativity and imagination. Heuristic play is a kind of play that is in a controlled environment for a specific period of time with materials that would be offered in a basket or container. The type of materials that would be offered are natural or household materials such as pine cones, ribbons, card board tubes, wooden and metal objects the list could be endless. Heuristic play would be in a separate play area or room without distractions. The objects are offered to the children for play and discovery without the intervention of adults. The adult’s job is to supervise safety and observe unless a child makes a request for help. The time period we use in our daycare is based on the developmental level of the child and the ability to manage attention. Heuristic play is not something you do everyday but a few days a week. An important point in heuristic play is safety. Since you are using items that are not meant for children you need to take precautions such as careful supervision. Young children are very sensory driven and will explore with their mouths as a matter of fact some children will explore by putting things in their nose and ears. Understanding the children in care will help in the decisions of what is offered during the play period. Here are some pictures of some of our items we use in heuristic play.