Schematic Play in Early Childhood: Why It’s Not “Naughty”

From the moment babies begin to drop spoons from their highchair to the elaborate delivery services preschoolers invent with carts and clipboards, children are engaging in schematic play. These repeated patterns of exploration, transporting, locating, seriation, combining, collecting, enveloping, and rotating are how children make sense of the world. Too often, adults misinterpret these actions as “messy” or “naughty.” In reality, they are the building blocks of mastery, innovation, and confidence. Our role as educators is to step back, observe, and scaffold, not interrupt.

Babies (0–18 months)

Babies explore schemas through sensory repetition: dropping, banging, mouthing, hiding, and covering. These actions are not random; they are experiments in cause and effect, permanence, and control. By respecting these patterns, educators nurture curiosity and trust.

Practical Examples

A baby drops a spoon repeatedly—the educator names the action and offers another spoon.
A baby hides under a blanket—the educator scaffolds the enveloping schema with peek‑a‑boo.
A baby spins a rattle—the educator highlights the rotating schema.

Educator Tips & Strategies

Provide safe sensory materials (cloths, rattles, stacking cups).
Narrate play with simple language (“You shook it—it made noise!”).
Create safe zones for tipping and banging.
Encourage sensory exploration with varied textures and sounds.

Toddlers (18 months–3 years)

Toddlers are schema powerhouses. Transporting, combining, and seriation dominate their play, often clashing with adult expectations of order. When toddlers tip baskets or move blocks across the room, they are not being disruptive; they are testing systems, categories, and possibilities.

Practical Examples

A toddler carries blocks to the home corner—the educator provides a basket or trolley to support transporting.
A toddler tips out puzzle pieces—reframed as seriation practice, lining pieces by shape or color.
A toddler mixes sand and water—the educator scaffolds combining with language about texture and change.

Educator Tips & Strategies

Expect mess and movement—it’s developmental, not defiance.
Provide open‑ended resources (baskets, carts, tubes, loose parts).
Scaffold gently with language (“You’re lining them up by size”).
Document learning to share with families, reframing “mess” as exploration.
Respect autonomy, intervening only for safety.

Preschoolers (3–5 years)

Preschoolers combine schemas into complex, collaborative play. They build, measure, experiment, and negotiate roles. Their schematic play is the foundation of inquiry‑based learning, linking directly to curriculum outcomes in numeracy, literacy, and science.

Practical Examples

A preschooler lines up cars by size - educator introduces a ruler, extending seriation into measurement.
A group builds a “delivery service” with carts and boxes—the educator adds clipboards and paper, extending transporting into literacy.
A child spins a wheel and adds weights—the educator scaffolds rotating into a science experiment.

Educator Tips & Strategies

Offer challenges with ramps, pulleys, measuring tools, and water play.
Encourage collaboration—preschoolers often explore schemas socially.
Use inquiry questions (“What happens if we add more water?”).
Link schemas to EYLF outcomes (numeracy, problem‑solving, literacy).
Celebrate mastery (“You worked out how to balance the ramp!”).

Across babies, toddlers, and preschoolers, schematic play is developmental exploration, not misbehaviour. By observing, scaffolding, and respecting children’s agency, educators transform “mess” into mastery and nurture confident, curious learners.