About Positioning Schema

Positioning schema play and exploration involves stacking items in columns, lining things up in rows, and balancing objects. It also involves sorting, ordering, arranging, or creating patterns with objects. In her book Schemas: A Practical Handbook, Laura England clarifies:

Children exploring a positioning schema may be regimented in the ways that they play and how they sort or position items. They may put items in unusual places such as placing a car on the corner of each step on a staircase. You may also notice that children enjoy lining up objects, organising objects or sorting objects whilst tidying items into their place. They may be particular about routines, the order they get dressed and even placement of food on their plate. It can often be misconstrued as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), but it is a normal part of a child’s development as they explore patterns.

England, Laura. Schemas: A Practical Handbook (p. 61). Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Interest in positioning schema manifests itself in various ways as children endeavor to organize the world around them. We’ll look at some examples later in this post, but first, some loose parts ideas that support positioning schema play and exploration.

Suggested Loose Parts

Here’s an incomplete list of loose parts that support this play schema:

Have an idea I should add to the list? Share it in the comments or contact me.

Examples

Some examples of this play schema in action:

It should come as no surprise that children interested in positioning schema need materials to position. Don’t fret too much about those materials–kids will make do with whatever is at hand. Items ranging from plastic containers salvaged from the recycling bin to sea shells to store-bought toys will do the job.

Some kids exploring positioning schema display an interest in stacking or lining up objects. You can support this interest with small things like marbles, but you can also provide larger and heavier items– bricks, planks, rocks, cable spools, straw bales–for positioning. The advantage of offering larger options is that it encourages heavy work, something many children need to engage in more.

Mud, sand, and play dough play also provide opportunities to explore positioning schema.

As does puzzle play.

Children also explore positioning schema in the process art area. For example, in the drawing below, a child arranged a series of windows in neat rows and columns.

And here, strips of constriction paper are woven together–a challenging activity for inexperienced little fingers.

Along these lines, children interested in positioning schema may be interested in weaving and lacing, so making looms, beads, and related materials available can support this exploration.

As mentioned above, children may also manifest their interest in this schema by tidying up. The child you had to cajole to pick up their LEGO may start doing it independently. Or they may purposely dump them out only to pick them up without playing with them. Or they may sort them by size, shape, or color.

And that kid who was constantly losing her shoes? They may become much easier to locate.

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