“What a child can do in cooperation today, he can do alone tomorrow.”- Lev Vygotsky
Discovery Time is the part of our day where children take the lead — exploring, creating and following their own ideas while our staff support and gently extend their learning. It’s a special time filled with curiosity, joy and meaningful play.
Learning through play...
During the child-led part of our day, we give children the time and space to follow what truly interests them. Whether they’re building, creating, imagining or investigating, our team is right there to support, gently extend their play, and celebrate their ideas. We use the things your child naturally loves to help them revisit and practise skills introduced in our adult-led activities, making learning feel fun, meaningful and truly their own. Through this approach, we help children develop the three Characteristics of Effective Learning: Playing and Exploring, Active Learning, and Creating and Thinking Critically. Most importantly, children feel confident, motivated and proud of what they can do — and that’s when the very best learning happens.
Enabling Environments...
Our staff carefully create an inviting, child-friendly environment where curiosity and imagination can truly flourish. We use real-life, familiar objects, loose parts, and natural resources so children can explore in open-ended, meaningful ways. The changing seasons and daily weather also play an important part in our learning, giving children rich experiences both indoors and outdoors — from splashing in puddles to building with pinecones or observing how light changes throughout the day. By offering materials that can be used in many different ways, we encourage independence, problem-solving and a genuine sense of wonder. This thoughtful approach strengthens the Characteristics of Effective Learning, helping children become imaginative, independent and inquisitive learners.
Together, these elements make Discovery Time a rich, inspiring and truly child-centred part of our day, where children grow in confidence, independence and their love of learning
