Developing Play for the Under 3s

The Treasure Basket and Heuristic play encourage extraordinary capacities of concentration, intellectual brilliance and manipulative mastery in babies and young children. The approach is astoundingly simple: offering natural and household objects to babies and toddlers has a profound impact on their learning capabilities. Full of resource ideas and activities, the book offers accessible explanations of what babies think and do alongside links to child development and learning processes.

Anita M. Hughes is an independent chartered educational psychologist and has been working in the field of Early Years for over 30 years.

Foreword Preface Acknowledgements Introduction 1. A tribute to Elinor Goldschmied 2. How babies and children learn 3. The beginning of sensory and physical development 4. The Treasure Basket - 'What is the object like?' 5. Offering the Treasure Basket 6. Heuristic Play - 'What can I do with the object?' 7. Offering Heuristic Play material 8. Heuristic Play for the 2-4 year olds 9. Myths and Misunderstandings 10. Play with a Purpose (2-3 year olds) - 'What can the object become?' 11. Expanding the approach Conclusion References and further reading