About Enveloping Schema
Enveloping schema involves children covering, hiding, concealing, and camouflaging objects–or themselves–with different materials. According to Laura England, children exploring this schema often, “show an interest in dressing up or wrapping themselves in blankets, as well as wrapping or concealing objects in fabric, paper or play dough.”1
Suggested Loose Parts
Here’s an incomplete list of loose parts that support enveloping schema play–items to envelop and envelop with:
- •Acorns
- • Aluminum Foil
- •Backpacks
- •Balloons
- •Bangles
- •Barrels
- •Beads
- •Blankets
- • Boots
- •Bubble Wrap
- • Buckets
- •Bushes
- • Buttons
- • Cardboard Boxes
- •Cardboard Sheets
- • Cardboard Tubes
- • Clay
- •Coconut Shells
- •Construction Paper
- • Corks
- •Corn Stalks
- •Crayons
- •Cushions
- •Dress Up Clothes
- •Duplo Blocks
- •Ear Protectors
- • Egg Cartons
- •Envelopes
- • Fabric
- • Flowers
- •Gloves
- •Glue
- •Hand Lotion
- •Hats
- •Hollow Blocks
- • Ice
- • Keys
- •Kitchen Sponges
- •Kitchen Storage Containers
- • Leaves
- •LEGOs
- •Logs
- • Marbles
- •Markers
- •Mesh Produce Bags
- • Milk Crates
- •Milk Jugs
- • Mud
- •Nesting Dolls
- •Netting
- •Newspaper
- • Packing Peanuts
- •Paint
- •Paint Brushes
- •Paper Towels
- •Pencils
- •Pillowcases
- •Pillows
- •Plastic Animals
- •Plastic Totes & Lids
- •Plastic Wrap
- •Play Dough
- •Plywood Sheets
- • Pots & Pans
- • Purses
- •Reusable Shopping Bags
- •Ribbon
- Rice
- Rugs
- Sand
- Seed Pods
- Shaving Foam
- Shells
- Shoe Boxes
- Sleeping Bags
- Snow
- Soap Bubbles
- Socks
- Soil
- Spoons
- Stackers
- Stones
- Straw Bales
- Suitcases
- Sunglasses
- Tape
- Tape Roll Cores
- Tarpaulins
- Tents
- Thread Spools
- Tires
- Tissue Paper
- Towels
- Tumbling Mats
- Wading Pools
- Water
- Wooden Blocks
- Wooden Pallets
- Wrapping Paper
- Zipper Pouches
Have an idea I should add to the list? Share it in the comments or contact me.
Examples
Some examples of this enveloping schema play in action:
Providing materials kids can use to camouflage, hide, and conceal themselves supports enveloping play. One of the reasons kids enjoy this type of play is that it allows them to feel cozy and secure.
So many materials support such play: wading pools, straw bales, grass clippings, plywood, logs, large hollow blocks, tents, and blankets to name a few.
You may also notice kids engaged in enveloping schema play become truly interested in wrapping things. Play themes like Getting Ready For The Birthday Party or Preparing For Christmas may work their way into dramatic play. Or your process art center may turn into a wrapping center.
All the toy cars or plastic dinosaurs may end up wrapped in aluminum foil, tissue paper, newspaper, or construction paper.
Enveloping schema play may also lead to objects being encased in paper mache. Or they may paint a delightful picture of their trip to the zoo and then cover it completely with purple paint. Or they may smear their palms with glue, wait for it to dry, and peel it off.
See how this child is enveloping each paver with a different color of chalk? This is another example of enveloping schema play. Covering their hands, faces, fingernails, toenails, or arms in paint or marker is another example.
Kids interested in enveloping schema play may also devote lots of time to dress up play. Sunglasses to hide their eyes. Layers, and layers of clothing to conceal their bodies. Hat’s, often pulled down low over their eyes, to cover their heads. Or earmuffs to cover their ears.
Supporting this enveloping schema play is as simple as sprinkling your play environment with a varied collection of items that can be used for enveloping, along with plenty of items that can be concealed. Beyond that, if the kids are trusted, allowed to self-direct, have plenty of time, and feel safe and secure, exploration and learning will happen.
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Author
Jeff Johnson is an early learning trainer, podcaster, and author and the founder of Explorations Early Learning and Playvolution HQ.
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