The Parenting Tool I Didn't Know I Had: An Introduction to Play Schemas

I had been working in education for more than 10 years before I had my first son. I was a classroom teacher, predominantly in the early years of school, and I spent those years watching how children learn through play. I knew about play schemas. I had studied them. I had seen them in action year after year.

And yet, when I became a parent, I had no idea that my understanding of play schemas would become my parenting superpower.

It wasn't the parenting hacks, the toy recommendations, or the behaviour strategies that made the biggest difference in my everyday life with a toddler. It was my knowledge of play schemas. Understanding them helped me find more joy and less frustration in the behaviours that so many parents find challenging. It allowed me to see learning where others saw mess, repetition, or mischief. Most importantly, it helped me understand what my child was trying to achieve through play.

That gap, between what's common knowledge as an educator and what most parents have never heard, is exactly what I want to close.

So, what are play schemas?

A play schema is a repeated pattern of behaviour, seen through play, that children use to explore and understand the world around them. Play schemas have been recognised in the education space for over 70 years, so they have been researched and observed for a long time.

Think of play schemas as the brain's favourite learning pathways. Children naturally repeat actions that help them investigate important concepts. They aren't repeating things "just to annoy us," and they aren't (usually!) "just trying to make a mess." They're exploring big ideas through play. And that understanding matters.

You'll recognise these play schemas the moment you see them named: the throwing, the lining up, the wrapping, the climbing, the endless carrying of "treasures" from room to room. While these behaviours can sometimes be exhausting, they are often signs that your child is deeply engaged in learning.

Why do play schemas matter?

One of the biggest challenges we as parents face is understanding behaviour. When we don't understand why our child is doing something, it's easy to view the behaviour as a problem. But when we understand the learning behind it, everything changes.

One of the examples I always give is a child who constantly throws food from their highchair (I see you having a little chuckle, we've all been there!).

Without an understanding of play schemas, that can feel frustrating and deliberate. With an understanding of the trajectory schema, the urge to explore movement through space, we can see that the child may be investigating gravity, movement, cause and effect, and what happens when objects travel from one place to another.

That doesn't mean we allow food throwing indefinitely. But it does mean we can respond differently. Instead of only stopping the behaviour, we can offer opportunities that meet the same learning need in more appropriate ways… a throwing game before kai time, a basket of soft toys to toss, a bin to "post" things into.

That's where play schemas become incredibly powerful.

The 10 play schemas (and what they look like at home)

I focus on the 10 most common Play Schemas, these are the ones I frequently share with parents, along with what they tend to look like once your toddler is loose in the house.

1. Trajectory — exploring movement through space. We just met this one: the throwing, the dropping, the watching-things-fly.
   
   
2. Transportation — moving objects from one place to another. The shoebox loaded with toys and wheeled from room to room. The handbag carried everywhere full of treasures.
   
   
3. Rotation — investigating spinning, turning, and circular movement. Spinning themselves until they're dizzy, turning wheels upside down, watching the washing machine like it's the best show on television.
   
   
4. Orientation — looking at the world from different positions and perspectives. Hanging upside down off the couch, looking through their legs, climbing onto furniture for a new view.
   
   
5. Positioning — arranging, lining up, and organising objects. This is the preschooler who lines up toy cars in a perfectly straight row, again and again, and gets genuinely upset if someone moves one out of place. It isn't fussiness, it's the satisfaction of order. Instead of clearing it away the moment they wander off, try giving them a tray, a muffin tin, or a row of jars for sorting small objects into, which gives that same urge somewhere good to land.
   
   
6. Transformation — exploring how materials and objects can change. Mixing mud and water into a ‘cake’, watching ice melt, mixing play dough or paint colours into something new (and probably brown!).
   
   
7. Connection — joining things together. My two-year-old is deeply engrossed in this one at the moment, every toy needs to be with a "family," or it would seem that the world is ending. It can be joining blocks through making towers, sticking tape on themselves, or even needing to be ‘connected’ to their friends or you through close proximity or holding hands. 
   
   
8. Disconnection — taking things apart and separating objects. The child who builds a tower just to knock it down, or who can't resist pulling a toy apart to see what's inside.
   
   
9. Enclosure — creating boundaries and enclosing spaces or objects. Creating fences around their play, drawing outlines around their artwork, filling bags, baskets, and pockets with treasures. The key here is that you can still see what is being contained.
   
   
10. Enveloping — covering, wrapping, hiding, or concealing objects (you no longer can see them). The toddler who wraps every toy, cushion, and occasionally the cat in a blanket is exploring this one. A basket of scarves, wrapping paper, or dough to bury small objects in gives that same instinct somewhere productive to go, ideally somewhere that isn't the cat…. Or ‘Enveloping’ your car keys in the rubbish bin.
    

Every child is unique, and children often explore several play schemas at once. Some become particularly strong for a period of time before making way for new interests. None of it is random. It's learning, in action.

A simple shift that changes everything

One of the most powerful questions we can ask ourselves is:

"What is my child learning through this?"

That single question can transform how we view behaviour. Instead of focusing only on stopping an unwanted action, we become curious about the learning need underneath it. And when we understand the learning need, we can support it more effectively. That doesn't mean saying yes to everything, it means responding with understanding instead of confusion.

Why I want more parents to know about play schemas

For years, knowledge about play schemas has largely stayed within educational settings. Teachers learn about them. Early childhood educators write learning stories about them. Child development professionals use them to understand learning. Yet many parents have never heard the term (or read the learning story and just skim over that part), which is an absolute shame, because it is us, as parents, who spend the most time with our children. That's the gap I'm on a mission to close: bridging what's taught in early childhood classrooms with what actually happens in your living room, one tired, toy-strewn afternoon at a time.

When parents understand play schemas, everyday moments begin to make more sense. The endless carrying, wrapping, climbing, spinning, connecting, and transporting suddenly has context. What once felt frustrating can become fascinating. And parenting can feel just a little bit lighter, not because the challenges disappear, but because we finally understand the learning happening underneath them.

That understanding has transformed the way I parent my own children. And it's exactly why I'm so passionate about helping other parents discover it too.

Every child's journey looks different

It's important to remember that play schemas are a normal part of development for all children. While every child explores schemas differently, some children show particularly strong interests in certain schemas or revisit the same schema for extended periods of time. This is completely normal and often means their learning is going deeper rather than wider. Exploring the same play schema for days, weeks, months, or even years can be a sign of deep learning.

This can be especially noticeable in neurodivergent tamariki, including autistic children. For many whānau, discovering play schemas can be incredibly validating because it offers a new way to understand and celebrate these interests.

Parents sometimes worry when a child seems "fixated" on wrapping objects, transporting treasures around the house, spinning, lining things up, or repeating the same type of play. While every child is unique, and developmental concerns should always be discussed with appropriate professionals when needed, a strong or long-lasting schema is not necessarily something to be concerned about. Often, it simply reflects a child who is deeply engaged in exploring an idea that matters to them. Understanding play schemas helps us move from asking, "Why are they still doing that?" to wondering, "What are they learning through this?"