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Learning from Play: Talk about It to Make It Happen

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A mother wears goggles and talks with her son as they play with a vice at Chicago Children’s Museum’s Tinkering Lab.

Today’s Parenting Playbook post comes from Tsivia Cohen, Associate Vice President of Play & Learning Initiatives at Chicago Children’s Museum. Tsivia plays an important role in one of our most exciting projects: Tinkering and Learning Engineering Stories, our research project in partnership with the National Science Foundation, as well as Northwestern and Loyola Universities. This post outlines some of the biggest takeaways from this research.

“Experience isn’t quite enough! Experience not quite enough!
Processing is what it’s really all about...
Looking back’s worth a lot!”
— Quote from CCM Pretend Opera, Presented to our Board of Directors, 2003

Children like to be busy: they build, they climb, they pull stuff out of cabinets, they wrestle with the dog, they mix together things that were never meant to be mixed, they build a fort. So what happens to all this activity?  What gets stored in memory and woven into children’s understanding of how the world works? How can we support the connection between children’s play and learning?  

Part of our work at the museum has been to look at this question. Through research funded by the National Science Foundation, we’ve been working with our university partners at Northwestern and Loyola University Chicago to examine how encouraging children to talk about their experiences can impact the depth of what they learn and recall.  When children reflect about what they’ve been doing—looking back and describing their experiences—they begin to process what happened and turn it into long-term learning.  Our research findings continue to reinforce how important these reflective conversations are to children’s learning. 

Here’s an example of what I’m referring to:

Parent: Why do you think our fort kept falling down?  

Child : Because we didn't do the blankets right.  But it was okay, ‘cause we found a way to do it in the end.  

Parent: So what made it work better?  

Child:  I went and got some books to put on the blanket to keep it on the couch. But then, well, it still fell when you went inside. 

Parent: Me? (laughing) What about me made the blanket come down? 

Child: Well, you’re taller so your head pushed on it. 

Parent: Oh dear. How did you figure out how to fix that? 

Child: We got the bigger blanket out of the closet but it fell down anyway until I moved the chair closer to the couch. 

Parent: How did that help? 

Child: It made the fort less saggy so you could fit inside it. 

Parent: I still had to duck to keep from hitting the roof. 

Child: Yeah, you had to make yourself short so you didn’t knock off the roof.

Putting words to what they’ve been doing helps children make sense of their experiences. Every-day activities become both stickier—more memorable—and more portable, while enabling children to glean important concepts that will benefit their long-term learning. Reflecting also allows children to create some distance between themselves and the specifics of what happened.  This is called “concreteness fading” and it’s important to how we take all the bits and bobs of our lives and build more abstract knowledge and concepts.  

Supporting children’s reflections is one of the most powerful tools we as adults have to support children’s learning.  Here are a few tips from the research: 

1. Encourage children to tell the “story” of what happened.

Stories are a format that is familiar to children. When we encourage children to tell “the story” of what happened, we help them organize their experiences into a narrative. Stories include the element of time (What happened first? What came next?) as well as anticipation and hypothesis testing (What did you think would happen? What actually occurred?). 

2. Listen and offer open-ended questions and prompts. 

Our research team has noted how eager most children are to talk about their experiences.  This is especially true of ones that include solving a problem or facing a challenge.  Some prompts we’ve found to work:  Tell me about what you made.  How’d you figure that out?   

3. Offer words for ideas and things.

As you listen to your child’s reflections, expand on what they’re saying, perhaps adding vocabulary. Young children need help putting experience into words. “I put it here and here” can be expanded into “You’ve been weaving. You wove the ribbon under and over the spokes of your bike wheel.”  Tagging objects and actions with more specific words allows children to connect one experience to another.  

4. Engage in experiences together. 

When you share an activity with your child, you’re better able to deepen the experience and to support their reflections by sharing your own memories.  In addition to reminding children of what occurred, you can help them link what happened to earlier experiences. “This makes me think of that day when…” Catherine Haden of Loyola University has shown that young children are better able to remember activities that were “jointly handled and jointly discussed.” 

5. Preload the process of reflection.  

Let your child know they’ll have a chance to talk about their experiences afterwards.  Knowing that you’ll listen later, can spark children’s memory making even while they’re engaged in the activity. This is also a strategy for promoting more independent play--especially helpful now when children are separated from playmates.  

6. Talk about activities involving movement.  

Talking about physical activities such as climbing and throwing provides an opportunity for spatial learning.  Our bodies are how we begin to understand measurement, directionality and orientation, and talking about these experiences allows children to process important concepts.  Development of spatial intelligence is critical to children's lifelong math and science learning.  

7. Save the evidence.

Whether it’s pictures you snap or the actual object that children make, having a physical record of what happened can make it easier to reflect.   A study looking at families’ conversations after visiting the museum’s Tinkering Lab exhibit found that children who had their creations with them used more engineering and math vocabulary while they were reflecting. Photographs can also prompt richer reflections by reminding children of physical and emotional aspects of their experiences.  

8. Reflect again and again.

Talking about what happened while the experience is still fresh allows children to recall many details, but revisiting the same experience a week or more later is equally valuable. By then less salient information may have faded, allowing children to make connections to other experiences and knowledge. Invite your child to share the same experience with a grandparent, aunt or uncle. Telling the story of what happened to someone who wasn’t there at the time offers a new challenge that can further expand children’s learning.   

 

 Stories are powerful.   When children and caregivers collaborate to create narratives from their experiences, it enables children to recall the flow of events and to form connections to previous knowledge and subsequent experiences. Asking questions and listening provides the support children need to take all the fun and falls and problems that do or don’t get solved and weave them into knowledge and understanding.  Stories make memories, but more importantly, stories make meaning.  

For more information on this research project, read our Parenting Playbook interview with Tsivia!

This work is supported by the National Science Foundation 
under Grant No. 1516541/1515788/1515771.

Discussing Chicago Children's Museum Research with Tsivia Cohen

A man helps a young boy tell a story at the Chicago Children’s Museum recording exhibit Story HUb.

Today’s Parenting Playbook interview is with Tsivia Cohen, Associate Vice President of Play & Learning Initiatives at Chicago Children’s Museum. In this interview, Tsivia discusses the ins and outs of Tinkering and Learning Engineering Stories, CCM’s research project in partnership with the National Science Foundation, as well as Northwestern and Loyola Universities.

CCM: What was the genesis of this research project and partnership?

TS: The research has been a collaboration from the beginning and has been designed to inform our practice at the museum. The Tinkering, Reflection and Engineering Learning (TRAEL) proposal was written with our research partners, Dr. Catherine Haden (Loyola/Chicago) and Dr. David Uttal (Northwestern), in response to a National Science Foundation (NSF) request for proposals for "research in the service of practice."

This work connects to research collaborations going back 15+ years, and aligns with Chicago Children’s Musem’s on-going interest in understanding and enhancing the learning that takes place in our museum. In particular we've been interested in how visitors' reflections could support their learning as seen in two exhibits: Skyscraper Challenge exhibit (also funded by NSF) and Story Hub (funded by IMLS and integrated into the TRAEL project), both of which are designed to promote reflection and document/reveal/promote children's learning from hands-on experiences.

CCM: Can you provide a brief overview of what the actual research project entailed? How did you reach your subjects? How many subjects did you work with?


TC: The primary subjects were approximately 575 families that chose to go to Tinkering Lab on a day when the research was occurring. If the caregiver and child gave permission, they then participated in whatever was happening in Tinkering Lab on that day, while being observed and recorded through cameras installed in the exhibit. In this way, the researchers were able to help us understand our museum practices as they applied to everyone. Researchers talked to children afterward and followed up with a number of families after that. Researchers also analyzed transcripts from conversations that these and other families had in Story Hub after visiting Tinkering Lab.

CCM: Are there any takeaways from this research you can summarize for our readers?

When we posed challenges that afforded visitors one or more ways to test success, we saw children engage in more engineering including iterative testing and modifying of what they made. (Examples here include Making something that rolls. Making something that flies. Making a ride for a finger puppet.) Offering a facilitated introduction to the challenges increased the STEM-related talk that visitors engaged in while they were tinkering. Additionally, offering this facilitated introduction in Spanish had a major impact on families in which Spanish was the caregivers' primary language.

CCM: Were there any parts of the research process that were particularly surprising, challenging, enlightening, or fun?
TC: Jointly designing new approaches to what we offer visitors in Tinkering Lab has been especially exciting. The project encouraged us to make changes and try new things.


CCM: In your expert opinion, why is this research important to the future of child development, learning, and play?

TC: In my opinion, it's important to understand the connection between play and learning—not to assume play will lead to learning and not to miss the value of play in children's learning. The ways in which children process their experiences makes a big difference in how much they learn from those experiences, and reflective interactions with the important adults in their lives can support this processing. These interactions matter now—for instance, in our museum when we’re open—but also later, since the interactions can create an internal model of how to learn from experience throughout children's lives.

Read more about this exciting research in this Parenting Playbook post!

How Using Radical Routines Can Benefit Independent Play

Independent play gives littles a way to build patience and resiliency, plus it gives grownups a bit of a break. One of the best ways you can encourage healthy, happy, and meaningful independent play in your house is by using what Chicago Children’s Museum Lead Arts Educator Liz Rosenberg calls RADICAL ROUTINES.

Watch the video below for more details about how the following tools will help you establish RADICAL ROUTINES:

  1. Pick a song: Using a special song as a cue will let your little ones know it’s time for independent play.

  2. Use a timer: A timer will enforce the rules so your little can focus on their play (and you can focus on your break).

  3. Use a visual cue: This show, don’t tell rule will announce that independent play is about to start.

  4. Set your agreement: Think of this as a contract for kiddos!

So set your RADICAL ROUTINE, and let the independent play begin!


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Race, Diversity, & Inclusion Resources for Parents & Caregivers

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This is a powerful moment for all of us to talk with our children about race, racial injustice, and economic inequity. To do so will be planting the seeds to eradicate all racism—systemic and institutional.

We have put together a list of resources for parents and caregivers so that you can continue these important conversations with children.

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Motivation, Perseverance, & Persistence: Helping Your Kiddos to Set Their Own Goals

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Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve been discussing why children should set their own goals, as well as the power of independent play—how both practices can build patience, confidence, and resiliency in your littles.

Here are more resources for you!

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Why It’s Important to Show Children Your Grownup Emotions—Especially Now

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Lately, we’re feeling all the feelings. There’s nothing like a global pandemic to bring out all kinds of emotions—the anxiety of not knowing what’s coming, the sadness of missing our loved ones, the irritability that comes from staying home with our families all the time—and emotions are tricky, complicated things. Add in our kiddos, and it feels more like a constant struggle.

Parents and caregivers: We see you. This is a tough time to say the least, and we’re all struggling to figure out the best ways to handle our emotions—especially around the children in our lives.

Celebrating Childhood: Joy, Play, and Our Little Ones

There’s nothing better than a joyful kiddo—their happy dances, huge grins, and giggles are some of Chicago Children’s Museum’s favorite parts of being open (and some of the things we miss most now that we’re temporarily closed).

But even though our doors are still shut, we’re still committed to celebrating our littles, and seeing those happy dances, huge grins, and giggles online.

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The Power of Bubbles (and How They Help Little Ones Handle Change) 

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What is it about bubbles?

Something about them makes us want to stop, stare, marvel, pop, and play—whether we’re two, 12, or 60.

One thing that makes bubbles so special is the fact that they’re temporary—they float through their course before they pop and vanish. At Chicago Children’s Museum, we believe there’s a powerful lesson there—for our littles, and for us.

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Embrace the Mess with Sensory Play!

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This week we’ve been embracing the mess. Because let’s face it—our littles are messy—and that’s one of the best parts of play.

One of the best ways to embrace the mess is through sensory play! When little ones explore their senses, they often make a mess—with paint, water, dirt, or whatever other materials they’re using—but they also learn some powerful stuff.

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Paper, Resourcefulness, and How to Deal With Being a Boring Grownup.

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We’ll admit it: Sometimes being a grownup can be really boring. When we’re kids, our whole lives revolve around imagination and trying new things—days are about a lot more than Zoom meetings and taking out the trash.

But, we’re also here to tell you: Play is everywhere, and even the most boring grownup stuff has the potential to turn into a powerful play moment!

Paper 101

Between negotiating work, childcare, and back-to-school prep like no other year, parents and caregivers don’t have a lot of time to stock their homes with play supplies.

That’s what makes today’s at home activity so brilliant: You already have everything you need.

Mindfulness Resources for Parents & Caregivers

Quote: “It is a happy talent to know how to play,” by Ralph Waldo Emerson

This week’s at home activity from Chicago Children’s Museum focused on mindfulness. If you and your kiddos haven’t made your Emotional Glitter Jar yet, now’s the time! It’s a powerful tool that can bring mindfulness and social emotional learning into your everyday life.

For those interested in even more resources, we’ve put together a list below. And while you’re at it, throw on some relaxing piano music in the background with this mindful “Playing Piano for Dad” playlist, available via Spotify and YouTube.

To Do: Chicago Children’s Museum At Home Activities

Emotional Glitter Jars

Mindfulness Activities for Children

To Explore: CCM Friends & Family Content

The Peace School of Chicago: This longtime Chicago Children’s Museum partner offers mindfulness and meditation activities for families and grownups (including staff/employees). From infant massage to “Peace Breathing” to senior’s yoga, they have a range of offerings for all ages, for families, children, and also for schools.

Create a “Noticing Wall” for kids: We love the idea of creating a Noticing Wall: “a zero-pressure space for us to write notes to each other, ask questions, jot down fun things we learned, and make plans.”

A noticing wall can spark conversations, ideas, silly things, and give a glimpse into each other’s inner lives.

Creating mindful spaces for children: One of Chicago Children’s Museum’s most peaceful and mindful spaces is our Pritzker Playspace for infants and toddlers.

When creating and setting up areas in the Playspace (or any children’s environment), CCM Director of Early Learning Initiatives Alex Pafilis looks for inspiration not only for the children but for adults as well, so that an area can be enjoyed by both caregivers and children, and can stand the test of time as children grow.

This focus also helps bring more sophistication to how we view children’s environments, breaking free from the traditional settings expected.

These CCM-approved sites can serve as inspiration for creating a corner at home to relax, reset, and engage in many calming activities:

To Read: Additional Resources for Parents & Caregivers:

We comb the internet so you don’t have to! Here’s some additional reading for grownups looking to bring mindfulness into their children’s lives.

Mindfulness as Play: Using Glitter Jars to Harness the Imagination

The Importance of Mindful Play

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Glitter Jars: Your New Parenting BFF

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Stress, especially in the time of COVID-19, is incredibly challenging to understand, and even harder to manage—which is why Lead Art Educator Liz Rosenberg has created this week’s incredible at home activity: Glitter Jars.