The Fascinating World of Schemas: How Children Make Sense of Their World
Have you ever watched your child become completely absorbed in repeatedly dropping toys from their highchair, spinning in circles until dizzy, or meticulously lining up their toy cars? These aren't just adorable quirks or ways to test your patienceâthey're actually important learning patterns called 'schemas'!
Schemas are the building blocks of how children understand their world. They're repeated patterns of behaviour that allow little ones to explore and make sense of the physical and conceptual ideas they encounter daily. Think of schemas as your child's way of conducting their own scientific experiments, testing theories about how the world works through play and repetition.
Some common schemas you might recognise include:
Trajectory: When your child is fascinated with dropping objects, throwing balls, or watching things move through the airâthey're exploring movement, force, and gravity.
Rotation: All that spinning, turning wheels, and twirling? That's your little scientist investigating rotation, balance, and cause-effect relationships.
Enveloping: Covering themselves with blankets, wrapping toys in paper, or filling and emptying containers helps them understand space, capacity, and object permanence.
Positioning: When they carefully line up toys, create patterns, or arrange objects in specific ways, they're developing mathematical thinking and spatial awareness.
Enclosing: Building fences around animals or creating boundaries with blocks helps them explore concepts of shape, size, and categorisation.
Further in this article, we'll explore several of these schemas in depth. Understanding your child's preferred schemas can help you support their natural learning journey in ways that are both meaningful and joyful!
World of Transporting Schemas
There they go again - moving toys from room to room, filling bags with treasures, or pushing toy cars back and forth with intense concentration? What you're witnessing is a transporting schema in actionâa natural learning pattern where children are captivated by moving objects from one place to another.
This common developmental pattern shows up when children become deeply engaged in carrying, pushing, pulling, or otherwise relocating items around their environment. You might spot your child collecting stones in a bucket during a nature walk, transferring water between containers during bath time, or loading their toy pram with stuffed animals for a journey across the living room.
Through these seemingly simple actions, your child is actually exploring complex concepts like journeys, distance, spatial relationships, and organisation. They're discovering how objects can be moved, how much they can carry, and building early mathematical understanding about capacity, weight, and volume.
Children with strong transporting schemas are often drawn to vehicles, containers, and anything that helps them move objects from place to place. They're not just playingâthey're actively making sense of how the world works, developing their physical coordination, and building cognitive connections about where things belong in their environment.
Understanding this schema helps us recognise these activities as meaningful learning rather than just random play or, yes, even mess-making!
The Moving World of Trajectory Schemas
Have you noticed your child's fascination with throwing, dropping, kicking, or rolling objects? This captivating pattern of playâknown as a trajectory schemaâreveals their natural interest in exploring how things move through space.
When your little one repeatedly drops food from their highchair, launches toys across the room, or spends ages rolling cars down a slope, they aren't simply being mischievous. They're actually conducting important experiments about motion, gravity, and cause-effect relationships!
Through these trajectory explorations, children are developing their understanding of fundamental physics concepts. They're learning about speed, direction, force, and gravityâall whilst having tremendous fun. When they send that toy car zooming or watch with delight as water cascades through funnels, they're building crucial scientific thinking skills.
Children with strong trajectory schemas are often drawn to anything that movesâballs, vehicles, running water, or their own bodies as they jump, run and climb. They're particularly interested in the pathways objects take, whether vertical (up and down) or horizontal (side to side).
This schema helps explain why some children seem endlessly fascinated by certain movements that adults might find repetitive. What we see as simply "throwing things" is actually your child's way of making sense of the physical world around them!
Round and Round we go with Rotation Schemas
Have you ever watched your child spinning in circles until they're dizzy, twirling objects between their fingers, or becoming completely mesmerised by the washing machine's cycle? These delightful behaviours are signs of a rotation schemaâa natural pattern where children explore the captivating world of things that turn and spin.
Children with strong rotation schemas are drawn to anything that revolves, rotates, or moves in circular patterns. You might notice them endlessly turning doorknobs, rotating the wheels on toy cars, swirling paint with their fingers, or simply watching how the toilet flushes with absolute fascination.
Through these spinning explorations, your little one is building important understanding about physics concepts like motion, balance, and cause-and-effect relationships. When they twirl their bodies or spin a top, they're learning about momentum, centrifugal force, and even beginning to grasp concepts related to the earth's rotation!
This schema often appears alongside other patterns like trajectory (movement through space) or connection (joining things together). Children might combine these interests by, for example, spinning objects and then launching them, or connecting items to create something that rotates.
By recognising your child's rotation schema, you can appreciate that all that spinning isn't just playâit's their way of making meaningful discoveries about how our world works!
All in Order in Positioning Schemas
Have you noticed your child meticulously lining up toy cars, arranging blocks in perfect rows, or creating intricate patterns with their snacks? These aren't just adorable quirksâthey're signs of a positioning schema at work in your little one's developing mind!
Children with positioning schemas are naturally drawn to ordering, arranging, and organising objects in their environment. They find deep satisfaction in creating lines, rows, stacks, and patterns. This might appear in various ways: carefully arranging stuffed animals on their bed, sorting building blocks by colour, or even insisting their peas don't touch their potatoes at dinner time.
Through these seemingly simple activities, your child is developing sophisticated mathematical thinking. They're exploring concepts like symmetry, sequence, order, and spatial relationships. When they carefully position objects just so, they're building foundational skills for later learning in geometry, algebra, and even logical thinking.
You might notice positioning schemas appear alongside other patterns like transporting (moving objects) or connecting (joining things together). Many children combine these interestsâperhaps lining up toys after carrying them across the room, or arranging items before enclosing them in a container.
By recognising this schema, you can appreciate that your child's precise arrangements aren't just playâthey're meaningful explorations of order in their world!
Wrap-up in the World of Enveloping Schemas
Have you ever watched your child become completely absorbed in wrapping toys in blankets, hiding under covers, or filling and emptying containers? These captivating behaviours are signs of an enveloping schemaâa natural pattern where children explore covering, filling, and containing objects (including themselves!).
Children with enveloping schemas are drawn to activities that involve wrapping, filling, emptying, and surrounding. You might spot them burying toys in the sandpit, stuffing small objects into bags, wrapping dolls in blankets, or even covering themselves completely with cushions or fabric. This fascination often extends to watching things disappear and reappearâa crucial concept in early mathematical thinking.
Through these explorations, your little one is developing important understanding about capacity, volume, and object permanence. When they fill containers with water or cover themselves with a blanket, they're learning that things still exist even when they can't be seenâa profound cognitive milestone! They're also building early mathematical concepts about what fits where, how much space objects take up, and how different materials can enclose others.
This schema often appears alongside connecting, containing or transporting schemas as children fill bags before carrying them, or wrap objects before sorting them.
By recognising your child's enveloping schema, you can appreciate that all that covering and filling isn't just playâit's valuable scientific investigation!
Discovering Enclosing Schemas: Building Boundaries and Spaces
When your child creates fences around their toy animals, draws borders around their artwork, or builds walls with blocks to create separate spaces, they're exploring an enclosing schema. This fascinating developmental pattern revolves around creating boundaries, borders, and contained areas.
Children with enclosing schemas are naturally drawn to creating spaces with clear boundaries. You'll notice them building enclosures with blocks, drawing circles around objects in their artwork, making "houses" for their toys, or even creating imaginary boundaries in their play ("this side is my kingdom!").
This seemingly simple play actually represents complex cognitive development. Through enclosing activities, your child is developing spatial awareness, geometry concepts, and even early mapping skills. They're learning about inside and outside, boundaries and limits, and the relationship between objects and spaces.
Enclosing schemas help children make sense of their world by organizing it into manageable sections. When they create these boundaries, they're actually exploring fundamental mathematical and geographical concepts that will later support their understanding of shapes, perimeters, and even more abstract concepts like categorization and classification.
For children with strong enclosing schemas, the satisfaction comes not just from creating the boundary itself, but from the sense of order and control it brings to their understanding of the world around them.
Ideas for Supporting Schemas
Transporting Schema -
Kitchen play: Set up a pretend restaurant where your child can take orders and "transport" play food to customers
Garden activities: Create a "natural materials collection station" where children can gather leaves, sticks, and stones in different containers
Colour sorting: Provide coloured bowls and mixed objects to sort and transport by colour
Water play: Fill a water table with small containers, cups, and funnels for transferring water
Story inspiration: Read "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" and create an adventure where items must be collected and transported along the journey
Recycling centre: Set up a simple sorting system for household recyclables
Library game: Create a home "library" where books can be checked out, returned, and reshelved
Construction site: Use toy lorries to transport building materials (blocks, pebbles) to a construction zone
Seasonal activities: Apple picking into baskets, collecting autumn leaves, or gathering shells at the beach
Trajectory Schema -
DIY catapults: Make simple catapults using spoons and soft pompoms
Straw rockets: Create paper rockets that launch by blowing through straws
Pendulum painting: Hang a small container with a hole in the bottom filled with paint that swings over paper
Water rockets: Use squeeze bottles in the bath or outdoors in summer
Shadow play: Use torches to create moving shadows on walls
Ball runs: Create elaborate tracks using cardboard tubes, plastic bottles, and other household items
Balloon games: Tap balloons to keep them in the air or create balloon rockets on string
Science experiments: Explore reactions that bubble up or fizz (like bicarbonate of soda and vinegar)
Ribbon/streamer dancing: Use ribbons tied to sticks to create beautiful flowing patterns in the air
Marble paintings: Roll marbles dipped in paint across paper in shallow boxes
Rotation Schema -
DIY kaleidoscopes: Make simple kaleidoscopes using cardboard tubes and reflective materials
Bike maintenance: Involve your child in simple bike maintenance, examining how the wheels turn
Natural spirals: Go on a nature walk looking for spiral patterns (snail shells, certain flowers)
Spiral art: Create spiral drawings using compass tools or by tracing around circular objects
Rotation games: Play games like "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" or "Musical Statues" that involve turning
Sundial exploration: Make a simple sundial and observe how shadows rotate throughout the day
Food preparation: Make foods with circular patterns (cinnamon rolls, pinwheel sandwiches)
Motion songs: Sing songs with rotating movements like "The Wheels on the Bus" or "Ring Around the Rosie"
Shadow clock: Mark shadow positions at different times of the day to observe the earth's rotation
Mechanical explorations: Examine clocks, egg beaters, or other safe mechanical items with rotating parts
Spin art: Create artwork using salad spinners with paint and paper
More Ideas for Supporting Schemas
Positioning Schema -
Nature mandalas: Collect natural materials (leaves, pebbles, flowers) to create symmetrical patterns outdoors
Shadow matching: Place objects on paper, trace their shadows, then match objects to their outlines
Domino runs: Set up elaborate patterns of standing dominoes to knock down
Magnetic play: Explore patterns and positioning with magnetic tiles or letters on a baking tray
Small world play: Create miniature gardens or towns where positioning of elements is important
Treasure maps: Draw maps of your home or garden with specific positions marked
Colour gradients: Arrange coloured objects (paint chips, crayons, toys) in gradient order
Photography activities: Take photos of things from different angles or positions
Calendar activities: Create visual timetables where the order and position matter
Planting: Design a small garden plot with specific positioning of different plants
Enveloping Schema -
Papier-mâchÊ: Cover objects in paper and glue to create sculptures
Sensory bags: Seal interesting objects in clear ziplock bags with coloured hair gel
Secret messages: Write messages that can be revealed when covered with watercolour paint
Cocoon play: Create "cocoons" using fabric where children can transform into butterflies
Mud kitchen: Explore covering objects in mud or clay
Invisible ink: Write with lemon juice that becomes visible when heated
Sand casting: Bury objects in damp sand and carefully remove to see impressions
Food activities: Make foods that involve wrapping (spring rolls, samosas, burritos)
Ice excavation: Freeze small toys in ice and explore how to free them
Casting and moulding: Use plaster of Paris in simple moulds to create casts
Enclosing Schema -
Fairy gardens: Create miniature enclosed gardens with boundaries and gates
DIY board games: Design simple board games with enclosed spaces and paths
Map making: Draw maps with bordered countries or regions
Animal habitats: Create different enclosures for toy animals based on their needs
Masking tape play: Use masking tape on floors to create enclosed spaces for different activities
Stained glass effect: Create artwork with black paper borders and coloured tissue paper
Puzzle making: Design simple jigsaw puzzles with enclosed sections
Den building: Create reading nooks or special spaces with clear boundaries
Garden planning: Section off areas of garden for different purposes with stones or sticks
Venn diagrams: Sort objects into overlapping circles based on characteristics
Treasure hunts: Hide objects within specific enclosed areas for children to find
Drama play: Create "stage" areas marked out for performances
Willow structures: For outdoor play, create simple willow domes or tunnels (seasonal)
Felt board stories: Use felt pieces on a board to create enclosed scenes for storytelling
These activities support children's natural learning patterns while developing important skills in spatial awareness, classification, and creative thinking. Remember to observe which aspects particularly engage your child and adapt these ideas to match their specific interests and developmental stage.
Embracing Schemas in Home Education: Conclusion
Understanding and supporting your child's schemas is one of the most powerful ways to nurture their natural learning instincts. When we recognise these patterns of behaviour not as random play or even as challenging behaviour, but as important developmental explorations, we can transform our approach to home education.
Each schemaâwhether transporting, trajectory, rotation, positioning, enveloping or enclosingârepresents your child's efforts to make sense of fundamental concepts that underpin later learning in mathematics, science, art, and even literacy. By providing appropriate materials and activities that support these schemas, you're not just keeping them entertained; you're helping them build crucial neural pathways and developing deep understanding.
Remember that schemas often overlap and evolve as your child grows. What looks like a fascination with wrapping toys one month might transform into complex construction play the next. The key is observationâwatching carefully to identify which schemas currently interest your child and finding ways to extend their learning through these natural patterns.
Home education offers a wonderful opportunity to follow these interests at your child's own pace, without the constraints of a structured curriculum. By working with rather than against these powerful learning drives, you can create a rich, engaging educational experience that respects your child's unique developmental journey.
Most importantly, supporting schemas through play creates joyful learning experiences. When children are engaged in schema play, they're completely absorbed, focused and motivatedâthe perfect state for meaningful learning to occur. So embrace the repetitive play, the collections of treasures, the constant movementâthese aren't distractions from learning, they are learning in its most natural and effective form.