Jamie Bruce: Following Child Interest

This week our guest blogger Jamie is sharing with us the delights of Child Interest Planning. Follow Jamie at https://www.instagram.com/jaybruce/

Following a child’s interest…perhaps the most recognisable term coined in the Early Years. Setting up continuous provision based on interest was one of the first things I learnt when I started working with three, four, and five year olds here in the UK. The children inform the environment, shape their own next-steps, and, in turn, bolster the learning of the children around them by sharing their growing breadth of ideas. To me, there are two categories of ‘following interest”, which are actually quite different in practise. One might be more familiar to you, and the other you might see as more intuitive; a day-to-day occurrence that you have never put a name to.

1. Individual Interest Informs Set-up

Daily set-up which takes into account the interests of an individual, is a brilliant way of showing a child that you value what they value. It also stirs in other children an interest in something they may not have considered or even heard of! If you have a child who is interested in bugs, it is easy to change the mud kitchen to include mini-beasts, or set up a microscope and clip boards to record new information they discover. Observational drawing lends itself well to all things natural too, and this can be the creative table set-up for the week with changing stimulus. I once had a boy at school who never stopped talking about whales. For every day of the year, he drew me a whale, or many whales. To support his learning, we watched whale videos, and recorded new language and terms, like “breaching”, “blowhole”, “calf”, “krill” and types of whales. Through his interest, the other children developed a love of whales too, and also absorbed the language, delighted in making a huge junk-model Blue Whale to hang from the ceiling, and looked carefully at the information books we found in the library. One child’s interest created engagement and enthusiasm in us all. 

2. Literally Following a Child’s Interest

By “literally following”, I mean just that. I mean playing alongside a child, letting them lead you, taking their game seriously, following instructions, playing your part well, and suspending reality when asked. A child’s interest in this way refers to the immediate. Unlike interests which can be identified and then facilitated by opportunities to explore it’s breadth, immediate interests may exist only then and there, and require you to do nothing more than follow along. A child may stand up and assume you are coming, and you do, without question, to continue what the child sees as unbroken play. This sort of following doesn’t include the usual questioning “what are you doing?”, “what are you playing?”, or “what will you do next?” Following means following as quiet company, and to me, it is the most valuable interest in interests of them all.

I think the main thing to remember when thinking about Following a Child’s Interest, is that at the core of the idea, is your relationship with your children. We are making a giant whale because I care about you, and I care about what you like.

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