What does this mean?
Children can be engaged in activities at various levels of involvement, they may be fully concentrating on their activity or they may not be engaged in it at all.
Have you ever watched a child during their play?
Sometimes you will see a child so engrossed in their activity that even a hurricane could pass by and they wouldn't notice (alright, a little exaggeration but you get the point!). This is high level involvement, Level 5 ( See Fig. A), where their activity and involvement is intense with concentration, creativity, energy and persistence.
At the other end of the scale (Level 1) you may see a child involved in simple, repetitive and passive activity in which they are barely engaged. This may even be a child wondering around not sure what to do with themselves.
Why are levels of involvement important?
During activity where a child is at a high level of involvement, deep-level learning is taking place. The activity is purposeful and the child is happy, their brain is 'lit up' (see Fig. B). Whilst sitting, being passive a child is less engaged and shows less brain function (see Fig. B). Even after a 20 minute walk, the child's brain is showing higher brain function, now imagine what it would look like when they are exploring and problem-solving, whilst highly engrossed in their activity.
This shows that it is so important that children are engaged in activities and environments that stimulate their interests and encourage them to be involved and engaged at high levels.
At Tiddlypeeps, we believe in providing inspiring environments, filled with exciting and engaging resources, that encourage children to explore and discover and to reach high levels of involvement. We also ensure that our practitioners are aware of the importance of levels of involvement, to identify children that are at lower levels to then sensitively and positively engage children in purposeful activities, supporting every child's learning and development.