Emma Davis reflects on why offering 'challenge' to children in the early years is so important, and what educators need to consider to support this. 

The Early Years, as the foundation of learning and development, is the ideal time to nurture vital skills such as resilience, perseverance and determination.  This can be achieved by adopting an ethos within the setting that values the process of challenge whereby children have the confidence to take a risk, not being deterred by the fear of making a mistake or not achieving first time.  However, for this to be successful, it relies on educators knowing the children well through a strong Key Person approach.  In this way, educators build strong relationships, becoming familiar with children’s development, strengths, personalities and characteristics of effective learning.  They also become familiar with a child’s experiences prior to joining the setting, valuing the unique child.  This is important in recognising that all children develop at different rates based on many factors.  These can be biological, dependent on age, gender, any special educational support needs or disabilities. Development is also influenced by a child’s lived experiences, environmental factors including a child’s culture, language, community and experiences they have been exposed to through their parents or carers.

What is meant by challenge?

When we encourage challenge in the Early Years, we are giving children the opportunity to engage in play and learning which involves effort and perseverance.  We give them the time and space to explore, trying things again and again in different ways until they are successful.  This shows that we value the process of learning, understanding that children need time to think and work through solutions. 

Some examples of situations in which children can experience and overcome a challenge include:

·         Putting on their own coat

·         Balancing across a log without the help of an adult

·         Completing a puzzle

·         Building a train track independently

·         Playing together in a group, negotiating rules and roles

Why is challenge important?

Experiencing challenge is vital to a child’s development with the Personal, Social and Emotional area of learning within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). It also nurtures a child’s ability to self-regulate as they learn to accept that sometimes we can’t achieve something the first try.  This can lead to big emotions as some children may find it difficult to try again.

If children are only ever exposed to activities and opportunities which they can accomplish with ease, they will never experience the need to keep on trying.  They will expect things to come easily to them.  As educators, we play a vital role in creating a nurturing space where children are free to explore and be curious, but also somewhere which offers challenge.  This doesn’t mean that the entire environment should consist of activities which are tricky – instead, it’s about understanding what children are capable of achieving.  Here, we can link back to the theory of Vygotsky (1978) and the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).  If we are not offering challenge, then children remain in their comfort zone.  However, by employing sensitive scaffolding of learning – unique to each child - we can support children to achieve something which they wouldn’t be able to alone.  In this way, the educator is acting as a More Knowledgeable Other, assisting the child to have a go at something which they might feel is out of reach.  This could involve words of praise, reassurance or encouragement, or talking to the children about different approaches or strategies to achieving a goal.

When children are experiencing a challenging situation, they are required to think, make plans and reflect on their progress.  This process can often be out loud as they try to make sense, building on their communication and language skills. It’s part of the way in which children negotiate the process of challenge.  When this process is successful and children have achieved something, they feel a sense of pride and accomplishment.  There’s satisfaction in completing a task or gaining a skill which takes some effort and perseverance.  This impacts on a child’s confidence, as they begin to recognise that although they might not achieve something first time, it’s important to keep on trying.  Through the process of ‘having a go’, children are developing resilience, learning not to give up.  It’s also a way for them to investigate cause and effect and testing their problem-solving skills, learning that one way might not work but a different way might.

The role of the adult

Aside from knowing the children well, the adults in a child’s environment play a key role in supporting them to develop a ‘can do’ attitude.  They are responsible for facilitating an environment which is rich in opportunities for children to develop skills of perseverance.  It should be a space where they are empowered to play, explore and understand their own limits.  But what does this actually look like in practice?  As the educators will have built up strong relationships with the children in their care, they will understand children’s interests and development.  This knowledge will underpin the provision of resources within the environment, which enable children to think critically in their play.  Educators will value the process of play and the activities provided, rather than the product.  In this way, they are recognising that learning is not a linear process, children need to explore and test out ideas in their own way. 

The curriculum will be flexible and adaptable, changing in response to the cohort and their interests, needs and levels of development. It will reflect the value we place on having high expectations of what children can achieve.  Just like we mentioned at the start, children are unique and what works for children one year, will likely need to be adapted for the following cohort.  Learning should never be a one size fits all approach.  Educators will use both their knowledge of their key children and child development knowledge to ensure that elements of challenge are reflected in the curriculum. 

We know that children look to us as role models and we inspire their language, play and interactions.  Because of this, educators need to adopt a positive approach to play and learning, helping children to recognise their skills and progress.  Celebrate when children overcome a challenge and complete a task they’ve spent time on.  Praise the ‘I did it’ exclamations, congratulating children on their patience, determination and persistence.  It’s also important that we help children understand that there are some tasks that we might not achieve at the first attempt.  This shows children that we also face challenge and might need to keep on trying.  During these times, it’s valuable to use language associated with challenge, such as ‘it’s tricky but I’m going to try again’ or ‘that didn’t work so I’ll try another way.’

Finally…

When we allow children opportunities to experience challenge, we are providing them with a way to develop their sense of self.  They learn to test their limits, recognising that they are able to do things which might at first seem tricky.  How children progress with challenge will vary but there’s nothing more rewarding than playing a role in children feeling they have accomplished something.