Early Years Magic and Mayhem

Early Years Magic and Mayhem

See where the children live? We have to join them! Afterall what is childhood without a bit of Magic?

But how can we do this? 

Create magic, daily and at the drop of a hat ‘in the moment’, and following children, enabling them to be leaders?! Add into that the need for Funky Fingers, Dough Disco, some kind of mindfulness activity, challenge for the most able, Phonics sessions, a spot of baking and, of course singing time! Agghh, the mind buzzes!

Seriously, making aside, it can be simple. We keep the notion of children leading right there, at the forefront of our minds, always. This creates magic, because it is theirs. Remember Piaget and his egocentrism? Young children are all about themselves, their ideas and opinions. That is not to say they are not able to share, think about or even appreciate others ideas, but fundamentally the science is saying they are most focused on their own stuff. So why mess? Follow it! Embrace it! Enjoy it!

Now if we are clever, children’s magic can be transferable, there is no need to be creating twenty five different ‘magical’ moments fresh each day. There are two points to think about; the transferable nature of ‘magic’ and what ‘magic’ itself is.

Magic is a tricky concept to define, which is precisely why it is magic! For children though, magic is whatever fascinates and mystifies them, whatever they are crazy about, whether that be a TV character, a schema, an area of provision or animal. It may be something completely obscure, it will often be a surprise, but remember its magic! Pay close attention, what is their magic? Of course, magic is also linked to a few other defining Early Years terms; awe and wonder, exploration, discovery and curiosity, all spring to mind and are all terms we want in relation to our teaching.

So, magic is about the children (there she goes again!), but it’s also a little bit of us too, as adults and individuals we can add in our magical touches too, what are we passionate about? What gives us feelings of awe and wonder? See Early Years is the best place to be, which other workforce get to choose to fill their day with magic, both new and old?

So, my next point, the transferability of magic. We can liken to this to a fabulously teachery word; differentiation (this maybe where we win over our SLT). Think about your children in magical groups, if Freddie is fascinated with maps, chances are there are a few others, sprinkle some magic here and they will all enjoy and engage. Likewise, if Elizabeth spends all her time in the Water, there will be other children there who will enjoy the benefits of a little Elizabeth targeted magic. Do you get where I am going? These are not ability groups, merely groups of children with similarities in certain ways. And this is not a new concept, the devil, is in the detail; the child as The Leader, time and freedom to express their magic and experience a little of yours too. 

Go forth and cast some Early Years magic!