The orientation schema is all about how objects look from different angles and perspectives. Children developing this schema will enjoy moving their bodies into different positions so they can observe objects from different viewpoints.

If you have children in the playground climbing equipment to get different viewpoints, hanging upside down, or turning objects over to see what they look like underneath, you might have children developing their orientating schema.

In this blog post, you will learn all about the orientation schema and why it needs to be supported in your classroom. You’ll also discover several hands-on playful activities that will help you to support this interesting play schema.

What Is a Play Schema?

You will regularly notice children demonstrating play schemas in your classroom and also out in the playground. They are the repeated patterns of behaviour children use to explore and learn about their world.

Young children are constantly using their play schemas to investigate and make sense of the world around them. If you want to support students in developing their orientation schema, offering hands-on play-based learning experiences is your best strategy.

Children’s play schemas will change over time and become more and more sophisticated.  Through repeated schematic play, children will use their existing knowledge to build new understandings and develop their schemas.

There are nine commonly observed types of schemas in play. The orientation schema is one of these nine along with connecting, transforming, trajectory, rotation, enveloping, enclosing, positioning, and transporting schemas.

In education, schemas are recognised as a vital part of children’s cognitive growth and learning. An understanding of play schemas is very important for any early childhood educator. If you would like to learn more about play schemas and schematic theory, you should check out this blog post: A Guide to Play Schemas in Early Childhood Education

The  Guide to Play Schemas in Early Childhood Education blog post is a general guide to the nine play schemas. It explains in detail exactly what play schemas are and how you can use play-based learning to effectively support the ones your students will be exploring.

Schematic play relates to how a child is playing and exploring the learning resources and environment. It isn’t a specific type of play like dramatic play or sensory play. You will observe early childhood schemas of play happening in all areas of your classroom.

For example, you might notice children demonstrating the orientation play schema at the blocks area. They will be the students driving cars forwards, backwards, through spaces, around corners and over ramps and bridges. You might also notice these children gravitate towards rocking and spinning playground equipment or climbing ladders and forts so they can view their environment from different perspectives.

While these may seem like different forms of play in very different scenarios, they are in fact examples of the same play schema. Once you’ve observed a child displaying a specific play schema, you will very often notice the child repeating that same action schematically using a range of different objects and very often, their own bodies.

Why Are Play Schemas Important in a Play Based Classroom?

Understanding play schemas and being able to pinpoint the ones your students are developing is critical to the success of your early childhood classroom. When you become aware of the play schemas your students are developing you will:

• Understand your students and their developmental needs.

• Better understand how children learn.

• Be able to tap into your student’s interests.

• Increase engagement.

• Know how to encourage your students to be more curious.

• Deepen the learning and the intensity of your student’s playful learning.

• Make the right observations to inform your planning.

• Be able to easily differentiate the learning experiences you offer.

When you understand play schemas, you can use this knowledge to better observe and document what the children in your class are doing during investigative play time. You will not only gain insights into your children’s passions and interests, but you’ll be armed with the information you need to be able to adapt the curriculum and plan for appropriate and engaging learning experiences.

Understanding play schemas can also help you understand what can sometimes be seen as undesirable classroom behaviours. For example, you might have a child constantly crawling around on the floor. This would be a bit annoying for you and the other children trying to work there. This behaviour could be seen as undesirable but when you understand this behaviour is coming from a child exploring their orientation schema, you can set up a learning invitation to accommodate this schema.

When you understand why certain behaviours are happening, you come to realise children do not simply misbehave. There’s always a reason for desirable and undesirable behaviours and sometimes play schemas can be that reason. 

Being able to recognise and use play schemas is crucial to the success of any play-based classroom.

What is The Orientation Schema?

Children building their orientation schema are interested in how objects look from different angles and perspectives. I have found this play schema is most obvious out in the playground. There’s one advantage to playground duty I guess!

If you notice your children hanging upside down in the playground or bending over to see things through their legs, they are developing their orientation schema. You might also observe them doing somersaults, cartwheels, and handstands. It’s all about how things look from different positions and angles.

Children exploring this schema will be interested in playing on rocking and spinning play equipment. See-saws are another favourite. They will be climbing the playground fort and scaling ladders, trees, and monkey bars to get a new vantage point.

Sometimes you might even notice them turning objects over to look at them from a new angle. Climbing under classroom furniture or lying on the floor are other behaviours children exhibit when they are interested in looking at things from different angles.

The orientation schema is linked to the positioning and rotating play schemas. It is quite common for children to be exploring two or three play schemas at any one time.

Because children developing the orientation schema specifically enjoy seeing things from different viewpoints, they will enjoy experimenting with magnifying glasses, binoculars, mirrors, and reflections. Sometimes these children will even show an interest in balancing objects or exploring height and weight.

Students developing this schema will be in their element when you study map making and how to view places using a bird’s eye view in Geography.

What Are Children Using the Orientating Schema Learning?

Children exploring their orientation schema will be examining different positions and viewpoints. As they do this they will be:

• Developing gross motor and fine motor skills.

• Stimulating the sensory and vestibular systems.

• Developing spatial awareness.

• Learning positional language vocabulary.

• Using their senses to make scientific observations.

• Developing creative and critical thinking skills.

• Building science and math skills like predicting, estimating, problem solving, and measuring. 

What Vocabulary Supports the Orientation Schema?

turn, twist, spin, roll, rock

forwards, backwards, inside-out, direction

over, under, below, above, underneath, birds-eye-view

reflection, position, angle, view

How to Support an Orientation Schema in the Play-Based Classroom

Because children exploring their orientation schema will be fascinated with looking at objects from different angles and perspectives, there are many opportunities to offer hands-on learning invitations to support this schema in any play-based classroom.

Most kindergarten and first grade classrooms will already have a supply of hands-on playful resources children can use to explore this play schema. The children just need to be given the opportunity and permission to explore these resources from different angles and perspectives.

Educators do need to consider how and where these resources will be offered. When planning and implementing activities for the orientation schema, it is important to understand and follow your health and safety guidelines as well as thinking about how flexible the learning spaces you provide are.  

Mirrors

Mirrors are the ultimate learning resource for children exploring their orientation schema. Mirrors of all shapes and sizes can be placed at various angles and levels to help children explore objects from different perspectives.

I’m always on the lookout for different types of mirrors. Magnifying mirrors like those found in the cosmetics section of a store, small mirror tiles, large mirrors which can be used on tabletops, mirrored shapes, hinged mirrors, and framed mirrors are all wonderful to add to any learning area.

Children love it when you place mirrors in unusual places like on the floor or the ceiling. It creates a sense of wonder and will delight those students developing their orientating schema.

Mirrors enhance any learning invitation so if you find yourself with an empty corner or are looking for a resource to take your investigations to the next level, add a mirror.

Reflective Surfaces

Like mirrors, reflective surfaces give children another way to explore reflections and perspectives. There are many different types of materials and objects you can use to reflect light.

Think about adding metal sheets or aluminium foil to your blocks area and even the art area. Painting on pieces of aluminium foil or metal trays is an activity your students will be excited to explore.

There are even learning resources with reflective surfaces available from educational suppliers. They have been specially designed to capture the attention of children exploring the orientation play schema.

These resources can be a bit expensive, so we made our own cheaper version by covering some blocks, balls, and stones in aluminium foil. They were not as reflective as those available from specialty stores but they gave the students another opportunity to investigate reflections.

Water

The reflections in water are valuable explorations for children developing the orientating schema. Set up a shallow tray of water next to a light source like a window and your children will enjoy investigating the different reflections made in the water and on nearby surfaces.

Clear jars and small fish tanks of water will provide your students with opportunities to view objects from different perspectives and experiment with water and light refraction.

Here’s a Fun Experiment: Draw an arrow on a piece of card. Place the card behind a jar of water so you can see the arrow when looking through the glass. Your students will think it’s magic how the arrow appears to change direction. Encourage your students to write numbers and words on pieces of card to extend their experiments.

Light and Shadow

Using a projector or similar light source to shine onto a wall or the ceiling will no doubt encourage your students to investigate and experiment with light and shadows. Children learning about the orientation schema will be intrigued by these investigations.

You can change it up and extend their explorations by changing the colour of the light source. Just place some coloured cellophane over the light. Another engaging variation is to project a variety of pictures and patterns onto the wall or the ceiling.

Light tables are another light source that can help children to view things from a different perspective. Children can view both transparent and opaque resources in a new way when they are placed on a light table.

Supply your students with a small light source like a torch and provide them with a variety of glass or acrylic shapes to experiment further with the refraction of light. Check out the science resources in your school and you might be lucky enough to find a set of prisms that have been made specifically for these types of explorations.

Magnifying Glasses

Young children are fascinated with magnifying glasses. So much so, I add them to all sorts of investigation areas. Don’t just limit them to your science or nature table.

A magnifying glass can be added to any investigation area. At block play, in the dramatic play space, in the library and writing areas, at the tinkering table, and even the art area.

You will be surprised at all the different ways your children will use a magnifying glass and you can be sure those children obsessed with this resource will be the ones developing their orientation schema. 

Binoculars

You can purchase children’s binoculars or make your own play ones from cardboard tubes. Like magnifying glasses, binoculars can be added to any investigation area. They are also the perfect toy to add to your playground equipment.

Binoculars are particularly suited to small world setups and dramatic play spaces. We always use them whenever we go on field trips or when we are studying living things or the weather in Science.

However, you don’t need to be learning about the day sky or the weather to include some mindful cloud gazing in your school day. Watching the clouds float by is a wonderful activity for any child developing an orientation schema. Get your students to lie on their backs and gaze at the clouds. Talk about what shapes or pictures you can see. You can even use this activity as a stimulus for poetry and creative writing.

Once again, the good old cellophane comes in handy for extending schematic explorations with binoculars. Cover the lens of your purchased or homemade binoculars with some coloured cellophane to help your students see things in a new way. 

Peep-Holes

Peep-holes are so much fun for children developing their orientation schema because they create a new way for children to view their world. You can create peep-holes by cutting shapes from large sheets of cardboard or fabric and then using these as barriers to divide your investigation areas or learning spaces.

You can also create peep-holes by leaving gaps between the walls of your learning area spaces or by using open weave curtains or lattice as dividers.

When we study the day sky in science, I like to create peep-holes on the windows. I use empty picture frames to create a viewing focus. The children love using these little peep-holes to view and discuss the day sky.

Obstacle Courses

The orientation play schema is easily observed in the playground. You will notice some children love climbing so they can view the world from a higher perspective. You will also notice children crawling, rolling, or lying on the ground to gain a lower viewing perspective. These children are exploring their orientation schema.

There are many opportunities to support this play schema in the playground.

• Provide playground equipment like forts, ladders, planks, crates and trees for children to climb.

• Create obstacle courses at various heights. Don’t forget to include the fort and other permanent playground climbing structures in your obstacle courses.

• Add tumbling mats for children to safely explore their world from different angles.

• Swings, forts, monkey bars, and slippery slides are all important for children to develop their core strength and gross motor skills but are also important tools children use when they are developing their orientation play schema.

Out on playground duty, you have probably observed some children that like to go down the slippery slide the same way each and every time. Then there are always the ones that love to experiment with pretty much any possible position going up and down the slide. These children are no doubt exploring their orientation schema. Don’t be afraid to allow your children to navigate their way up the slippery side of the slippery slide. This maneuver is quite difficult and requires a good amount of core strength and balance

Allowing risky play is important for this play schema but you will always need to follow your school’s playground rules. If your school allows it, children should be given the opportunity to explore their world from different viewpoints. Climbing things, hanging upside down from trees and other playground equipment, and walking along rock walls are all activities that support this play schema.

Art Easels

Easels are great for giving children the opportunity to explore mark-making on an upright or slanted surface. This new perspective of viewing their work will delight children developing an orientating play schema.

Don’t just offer art easels to children in the art area. They make good additions to a literacy area or any area where you would like children to write or draw. Art easels are wonderful additions to any investigation area where children with an orientation schema may be working because they give children opportunities to paint, draw and write vertically and at different angles.

Michelangelo painting is another fun activity you might like to offer the children exploring their orientation play schema. Just tape paper to the underside of a couple of desks so the children can lie on their backs and draw, write or paint while laying down. They will love this novel approach to exploring their orientating schema.

Yoga and Gymnastics

Yoga poses and maneuvers in gymnastics give children experiences in viewing the world around them from different perspectives. Children developing the orientating play schema can often be observed lying on the floor or looking through their legs to get a different viewing perspective so yoga and gymnastics will appeal to these children.

You might like to create a safe space in your classroom where children can experiment with different body poses and develop their understandings related to their orientation schema. Supply yoga mats, yoga cards, and posters or books to create an interactive and peaceful investigation area.

Yoga positions really encourage children to get into unusual positions with their bodies and will help them to see things from different angles and perspectives. Young children will find the most success with these poses if they can copy an illustrated position or a familiar animal pose.

Some of the easier yoga positions can be related to familiar animal poses to help children understand and relate to them:

The Turtle - For this position, the children sit with their legs stretched straight out in front and then slide their feet closer up to their bodies. Their knees then fall open and they slide their hands under their ankles. The children then lean forward into their turtle shells.

The Giraffe - For a giraffe pose, the children begin on their hands and knees. Then they line-up their hands under their shoulders, and their knees under their hips. Keeping one hand on the mat, they reach the other hand up to the sky.

Downward Facing Dog - This is a classic yoga pose and appealing to children with an orientation schema. They begin on their hands and knees. Keeping their hands on the mat, they lift their hips up to the sky and straighten their knees. They need to try to keep their heads between their arms and create an inverted v body shape.

The Cobra - The children begin by laying on their tummies with their hands flat on the floor under their shoulders. They straighten their arms and lift their upper bodies off the mat. They then bend their knees so their toes touch the top of their heads.

Flexible Seating and Furniture

Flexible seating provides many health and learning benefits for the students in your class and will also encourage them to explore the orientation play schema.  

When considering flexible learning spaces, think about setting up learning invitations on different levels. Offer learning invitations on the floor, on platforms, at a coffee table, as well as at traditional desks and tables or standing desks.

Adding sheer curtains around and over learning invitations will give children a different viewing perspective too.

Very often, the orientation schema will be explored naturally when you allow children to work in flexible learning spaces. Allow your children to lie on the floor while they play and work. Have you noticed children lying on the floor with their heads on the ground as they play with cars or other learning resources? These children are seeking a new perspective. and a different visual angle.

They may be exploring the rotation schema if they are interested in things that rotate like the wheels on a car but very often children are developing many schemas at any one time so you can’t rule out the possibility that they are working on their orientation schema too.

Soft lighting is very often a design feature in flexible learning spaces. I love soft lights because they also help to create an inviting learning space. Lighting from lamps and fairy lights can provide children the opportunity to view resources in a different way.

You can easily support the orientation schema in your classroom by simply providing the right resources and changing the way you allow children to work. Try not to stop children from sitting in weird positions or lying down as they play. This is helping them learn!

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