Positioning Schema | EYFS

EYFS definition

A positioning schema is a repeated interest in placing and arranging objects or oneself in particular ways. In the EYFS, children may explore this by lining up toys, grouping materials, balancing objects or carefully choosing where each item belongs.

What is the child exploring?

The interest centres on arrangement and relationships between things: beside, on top, in a row or within a chosen space. A child may rearrange a collection several times or recreate a familiar arrangement with different objects.

Positioning can connect with sorting, pattern and spatial awareness. It does not require a neat result or a correct mathematical sequence; the child may be exploring an arrangement that has personal meaning.

What might it look like in practice?

  • A toddler places toy animals along the edge of a low shelf, then moves them into groups.
  • A child arranges blocks at carefully chosen distances before adding a bridge.
  • During collage, a child moves pieces around the paper before deciding where to place them.

These arrangements might become part of a story, a construction or an exploration of materials. The same resources can support many different kinds of play.

Responding to arrangements

An adult may make suitable loose materials and clear spaces available, notice the child’s choices or offer words such as “beside” and “between”. A photograph can help a child revisit an arrangement if they want to.

Lining up objects on one occasion does not establish a schema or tell us why a child is doing it. Looking across play, and listening to the child and family, gives a fuller picture.

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