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The concept of heuristic play was established over 30 years ago by Elinor Goldschmeid who was an Educational Psychologist. Heuristic play was designed to help gain a better insight into how children make sense of the world around them though viewing their interaction with inanimate objects.
The objects used in heuristic play are simple everyday and natural items. They provide opportunities to:
Through the activity the children have the opportunity to develop a wide range of cognitive skills as there is no right or wrong way for the children to explore. In April 2007 Derbyshire County Council was successful in securing funding from the DCSF to run a small scale heuristic play project as part of a national Parents as Partners in Early Learning project.. The project focused on giving parents and children the opportunities to experience, explore and evaluate heuristic play in some of Derbyshire's most deprived areas and targeted 7 parent and toddler groups. The funding for the project was time-limited, but it was felt that the project could still live on through investment into the Derbyshire Toy Library Network enabling parents to continue to have access to heuristic play resources and to widen parental participation. To veiw a HP resource list Click Here Photo provided courtesy of Derbyshire County Councils Press Office. |
Heuristic play actively encourages exploration by using and developing children's senses. Children instinctively investigate objects that interest them, making discoveries through taste, touch, smell, sound and how they look. During the activity children explore different materials and objects without the interruption of adults and the adults gain a great deal in observing what interests the child.