When we observe children at play we may notice emerging patterns that they repeat over and over again. Piaget first explained this concept when he described it as a way of organising information and bringing understanding in our world. A simple way to define schema would be to say that they are the “urges” that children have to do things repetitively.

As educators, we may respond to our observations of children’s urges or schemas by ensuring we are making opportunities available in the curriculum for children to repeat and explore these further.

This downloadable reading explores some of the main schema we may notice children working through.