It’s always worth thinking about the resources available to make sure they are appropriate to the children’s needs and interests.

In this case, the children can move around and chose what they want to play with. This is ideal, but is there a cosy corner or area for children like Jody to take their time in? Where they can sit watching before joining in?

Do the parents know about this, the philosophy behind it and how they might use the cosy corner? Perhaps a worker could spend some time with Jody either in a cosy corner or simply being with her eg at the dough table, gently acknowledging her feelings and helping her enter the rhythm of the day.

If we consider Parten’s stages of play and recognise that very young children are most likely to be involved in solitary or parallel play, do we have sufficient resources for children to play in this way eg enough spades at the sand tray?