Cognition and learning

• Little involvement and low levels of concentration.
• Gives up easily.
• Little motivation, enjoyment or sense of achievement.
• Unable to express or explore their own ideas and thinking.
• Cannot make links, for example between experiences at home and nursery.
• Rigidity in play and does not choose how they would like to do things.

• Show a playful attitude and sense of fun when playing with children.
• Play alongside the child copying what the child does.
• Model possible ways to develop the play (for example child holds a doll, adult holds another doll picks up a spoon and pretends to feed it).
• Use reassuring physical cues – facial expression, body language, gesture, sign and so on to encourage effort, no matter how small.
• Provide a simple play narrative using key words only for example 'Teddy jumps'.
• Use specific, meaningful praise when a child persists at or achieves something new.
• Verbal and visual encouragement.
• Visual support such as photos, symbols, choice boards, now and next boards to suggest and support development of play sequences or routines.
• Use specific motivators – learn what the child really responds well to (often food) and include it in play situations.
• Model the use of simple statements such as 'I wonder' or 'what if' rather than question.
• Make links between experiences or objects explicit using simple language, Makaton signs or photographs.
• Be patient with repetitive play as some children need to over-learn before being able to move on.
• When appropriate, always offer a choice (for example between bubbles or glitter in a water tray) even if you know that they will always choose the glitter.
• Try to use objects or pictures to make a choice from if the child is non-verbal.
• Ensure the child sees other children playing in different ways.

If you would like to learn more about this topic, or if you are a professional working in early years, you can find information on Tools for Schools: Cognition and learning.