Glen Education Mordialloc
Supporting Children’s Ideas Through Ongoing Play and Flexible Spaces
Written by Kristina Middleton – Early Childhood Educator
This term, we have been focusing on listening to children’s ideas and giving them more ownership over their play and learning environment.
This project started when a few children shared that they didn’t like having to pack away their constructions before they were finished. Some children were feeling frustrated when their work was being packed up before they had the chance to come back to it, especially across the day.
We brought this up in a group discussion and asked the children what we could do about it. The children came up with the idea of creating signs to show that their work was still being used. Together, we introduced “Under Construction” signs, where children can add their name using Velcro. This lets educators and other children know that the project is still ongoing and will be returned to.
The children’s voice has been a big part of this:
- “I’m still using that.”
- “Don’t pack it up, I’m not done yet.”
- “We can make signs.”
Alongside this, educators intentionally invited children to share their ideas about how the room could be set up to better support their play. Through these discussions, children worked together with educators to move and rearrange furniture and resources, creating spaces for building, dramatic play, and group work. This has supported more collaborative play and given children a stronger sense of ownership over their environment.
This project links closely with our curriculum goals around fostering independence, decision-making, and respectful relationships. It has naturally become part of our planning cycle as an emerging, child-led inquiry, where we are following the children’s interests and intentionally extending their ideas through discussion, problem-solving, and changes to the environment.
Children have been actively involved in:
- Creating and using the signs
- Taking responsibility for their own projects
- Respecting other children’s work
- Working together to move and set up the room in ways that support their play
We have seen children begin to check for signs before packing away and remind each other about ongoing projects. This shows growing respect, responsibility, and awareness of others.
Through our reflections as educators, we recognised that our routines (like pack-up times) were sometimes limiting children’s ability to engage in deeper, ongoing play. By making small changes, we have been able to support more sustained thinking, creativity, and collaboration.
EYLF Links:
- Outcome 1: Children have a strong sense of identity (showing ownership of their work and ideas)
- Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world (working together, respecting others’ projects)
- Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners (problem-solving, persistence, ongoing play)
Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators (sharing ideas, negotiating, expressing needs)
Moving forward, we will continue to build on this by supporting longer-term projects and allowing children more input into how the room is set up and used throughout the day.