Baby scientists

As Early Language Consultant for Luton’s Every Child a Talker project, I spend a lot of time with young children and the practitioners who care for them. Together, we share ideas and develop approaches to support children’s language and learning. Several of our settings involve children in ‘heuristic play’ – the type of play that particularly stimulates young children to make discoveries for themselves.

When children are presented with sets of familiar and unfamiliar objects, it often stimulates them to become involved in ‘heuristic’ or ‘discovery’ play. These collections of objects are sometimes placed in wicker baskets and have become known as ‘treasure baskets’.