ABSTRACT
In this chapter we describe a new approach to the learning of children in their second year of life, which has been developed and put into practice by Elinor Goldschmied in collaboration with childcare workers in England, Scotland, Italy and Spain. This approach is not just part of a generally rich environment that we would want to provide for children of this age group, but a special component of the day’s activities that needs to be organized in a particular way for maximum effectiveness. For this reason it is called here by an unfamiliar term, ‘heuristic play with objects’. Put simply, it consists of offering a group of children, for a defined period of time in a controlled environment, a large number of different kinds of objects and receptacles with which they play freely without adult intervention. We consider first the underlying principles, then practical arrangements and end the chapter with a list of suggestions for objects and materials.
