How to set up “invitations to play” in your home!
A provocation is a jargon-y term for an invitation to play. When I was teaching in Reggio Emilia-inspired classrooms, we would “provocate” at the end of each school day for the next morning. Sometimes this looked like setting out blocks and building half of a tower, or lining up small plastic animals in a procession around the room, or simply taping down butcher paper and setting out crayons. Sometimes we had an idea about how our students would engage, but more often than not, they totally surprised us! There’s nothing fancy about provocations and there are no rules. If it looks interesting to you, it will likely look interesting to your kiddos too :) Below are some examples of provocations in a residential playroom setting!
How did we set up?
Laid down turf and wood slices
Arranged animals
Left extras around the perimeter of the playscape
How will they engage?
We would anticipate a young child to engage in some kind of small world play with this set-up! They might animate the animals and move them around, perhaps giving them names and making them a part of a small animal society with rules and norms all its own.
How did we set up?
Covered a soccer ball with a playsilk
How will they engage?
The expectation here is that an infant would explore the concept of object permanence, the idea that an object still exists even when we can’t see it. They also might just enjoy playing with the playsilk on its own, or rolling the ball back and forth with a caregiver.
How did we set up?
Sorted Magna-Tiles by color on playsilks
Put the rest to the side
How will they engage?
By leaving the extra Magna-Tiles near the playsilks, the invitation is to sort them by color, placing the reds on the red playsilk, the blues on the blue, etc. If they’re working through a transporting schema, they might even wrap them up after and bring them to another part of the house.
How did we set up?
Lined up wooden blocks in order of length
Left the extras nearby
How will they engage?
They might recognize the pattern and continue to line up blocks in order of length, they might build vertically and begin stacking, or they may bring over other materials and engage in a way you didn’t plan for!
How did we set up?
Built half of a tower out of Magna-Tiles
Left the rest close by
How will they engage?
They might continue to build onto this structure, they might begin making a pattern with the Magna-Tile colors, or bring over other dinosaurs and create a little dino-town!