Kirstine Beeley provides some helpful tips on developing interactive displays which truly stimulate learning…
“Look! This is what a bear feels like!” came the cry from somewhere near the display on bears. This was swiftly followed by shouts of, “Look what this one’s eating!” and “I’ve found a red and purple bear!”.
A recent visit to a preschool showed me how a traditional display around a popular early years theme had, with a few exciting additions, become a central focus for discussion and exploration for the children in that setting.
I’ve previously discussed the reasons for developing display in our early years settings and looked at how children can and must get involved in displaying their own creativity.
This time I want to look in more depth at how display can be used to support and enhance the learning process.
A well-planned interactive display will engage children, stimulate their curiosity and spark their enthusiasm to learn more.
Traditionally, displays which encourage children to pick things up, look, touch, listen and talk about what they see have tended to focus on science-based themes.
A ‘nature table’ is a clear example of how we have, for many years, encouraged children to interact with the displays in our settings.
However, with a little thought and a whole heap of imagination, I believe that any display can be interactive. Moreover, we should plan for them being a key part of our ongoing provision.
Over the years I’ve seen some amazing displays created by adults that have adorned the walls of nurseries and preschools without any ongoing reference after they were completed.
This makes them (in my eyes) no more useful to the learning process than posh wallpaper. (And wallpaper takes a lot less time and effort to put up!).
If you really want to make displays an integral part of your learning environment they have to be planned and created so that they’re constantly in use by children and adults alike.
Ask yourself, “Will staff be actively encouraged to use elements of the display on a regular basis to stimulate learning and exploration? Pr are our interactive displays purely the domain of the children?”
“Does the display offer a colourful focal point for shared discussion and exploratio? Or are children and staff discouraged from using it once complete in case it deviates from its original pristine look?”
Tip: When considering interactive displays it’s important to plan for how the adult practitioners will interact with the display. Note the potential for future learning that the display can offer.
In the early years it’s important, wherever possible, to place displays at child-height. This principle becomes more important when planning interactive displays.
It’s hard to encourage children’s participation if they cannot see half of what’s on offer or, even more frustratingly, cannot reach exciting items!
To establish if a display is at the right level, you as the practitioner have to get down on the floor and view it from a child’s perspective. What looks exciting from adult-height does not necessarily look the same for the children.
Many settings have pre-constructed display boards that offer little opportunity for child-height display. In these instances a little creative thinking is needed.
Turning furniture around or pulling cupboards away from walls often offers clear, flat, child-height access. If you haven’t got cupboards spare, try folding a large piece of mounting board (from art shops or your local scrap store) in three.
Create your own stand-up display for use on tables or even on the floor. The key to interactive display is creating a display area that is accessible to children, even if it means using floor space.
Tip: Why not try laminating some key pictures/questions, etc. and velcroing them to the carpet around a display? A great way to expand your display area!
To develop and build truly interactive displays it’s worth taking some time to reflect on what we already know about how children learn.
You only have to look at the widespread use of treasure baskets and heuristic play to see that enough is now known about children’s developing brains that we happily accept the need to stimulate all of a child’s senses to maximise the building of new brain connections.
Also commonly accepted is the theory that children have preferences for learning with tendencies towards visual, auditory or kinaesthetic (moving) learning.
I firmly believe that it’s possible to plan displays incorporating these principles. This means you’re not only hopefully inspirimg and exciting children, but also offering them a range of opportunities to develop their full and individual learning potential.
When planning your display, try to incorporate elements that stimulate children’s senses. Lift-up flaps encourage curiosity and offer visual stimulation. Small boxes with doors cut in them can be filled with items to touch. Recordable language pads offer a great chance to listen to key questions and comments.
The more adventurous amongst us might also like to explore ways of incorporating smells into our displays. (This is easy in spring and summer with flowery pot pouri or blended grass in small, sealed pots with holes in the lids!).
Tip: Try to include both static and movable multisensory elements in your display to encourage ongoing use.
Once you’ve developed your display it’s important to keep assessing it to ensure that enthusiasm for its use is maintained.
Get down on the floor at regular intervals (ideally every day, but definitely every week). See if the display still looks interesting from a child’s-eye view.
There are a few things you can do when building your display that help with increasing its longevity. Use Velcro squares/dots so that questions and tasks cards can be detached and changed around regularly.
Laminate questions, cards and pictures to make them last longer. Recordable push button cards can be re-recorded to change questions.
Put clear pockets (made from thick plastic filing pockets) on your display to hold objects and activities. These clearly show their contents but can be easily changed for ongoing excitement.
However, remember that every display has its lifespan. Once children’s interest is waning, it’s time to plan and build another one.
Tip: Displays should not be left up for a set period of time if they’re being used as part of the learning environment. The old adage definitely applies to display in early years: “Use it, or lose it!”.
Kirstine Beeley is an independent trainer, author and consultant, with experience of teaching in early years, primary and SEN settings. Next up, read Kirstine’s article on creating child-led displays outdoors.
