Less Is More
This overused phrase may seem pretty obvious to us since it’s quite self-explanatory. Not only that, but we’re constantly seeing those “minimalist trends” and other “lifestyle hacks” to help reduce our clutter but what does it all really mean?
There’s a lot of science behind the reasons why we should keep certain things on the minimal side when it comes to children. From toys to language, to tasks and approaches, there are many benefits that can come from keeping it simple.
Less toys is more play
We can begin with what we associate the most with children, toys! There are so many amazing, innovative, and sometimes quite crazy new toys that are being invented for our littles nowadays. While it might seem that more toys would equal more play, the opposite is true. In a famous study done by Carly Dauch and colleagues in 2018, the researchers found that children with fewer toys in their play environment experience a better quality of play. Play quality is measured through the amount of time a child plays with a material and the level of imagination and creativity used during that playtime with the material. In their paper, the researchers begin with their introduction that states,
“Engagement in play begins in infancy and has beneficial effects on development. During play, children interact with the physical and social elements of the environment, allowing them to discover challenges and try new skills. This enhances child development, health, and well-being. Through play, children learn to interpret the world around them which in return enhances their cognitive, emotional, social, and physical skills. Play-based learning promotes academic readiness and outcomes. Thus, it is important to optimize the environment in which children play.”
Being in an environment with fewer materials allows for creativity to spark higher with more room to imagine, manipulate, and deepen concentration. This goes hand-in-hand with the type of toys and materials we present to our children. Open-ended toys like blocks, animal/human figures, baby dolls, and pretend materials promote a sense of curiosity and exploration in children. They often recreate the world around them in their play to both processes and deepen their understanding of daily tasks like cooking in the kitchen or going to the doctor’s office.
Another way to enhance the quality of play with fewer items is scaffolding their complexity. For example, you can begin with a simple material like Play-Doh. Play-doh or clay has endless possibilities just on its own. Then after some time with just the Play-doh, you can add tools like slicers, rollers, and cookie cutters. Then trade that out for small objects like beads, keys, and paperclips. After, you can present other materials like toothpicks or different-sized containers. Finally, towards the end of the play-doh’’s life, present something totally out of left field like fruits or dirt to create a sensory exploration of texture and mixtures. We love doing this in our classrooms and never cease to be amazed by how much of a staple these materials are for little minds.
To promote fewer toys in our children’s playspaces, toy/material rotation is a wonderful solution. This keeps things fresh while also allowing for the child to have the fullest experience with it. The next time it comes out on the play shelf/toy room, it’ll be a wonderful novelty with a new world of possibilities.
Less stimulation is more concentration
At wBees, we take careful thought into the curation of our space. We value simplicity, cleanliness, and order. This begins with the design of the space. White walls, minimal artwork, and decoration on the walls. We find that simple space acts as a catalyst for engaged learning and play. For young children, already being in a room with 14 other kids and 2-3 adults can be overwhelming. Add lots of color, numbers, and shapes on the walls with multicolored rugs and bright furniture and it becomes totally overwhelming!
A peaceful and serene environment causes less distractions and allows children to focus on their activity at hand. For our minds to be at peace and concentrate, it takes the environment as a whole to promote that harmony. This is why we also emphasize to our students that being part of a community means respecting the boundaries that maintain that peace such as soft voices, walking feet, and not interrupting friends when they are working. Maintaining a gentle and tranquil environment allows students to entirely immerse themselves into their play and learning, bringing out the most of their curiosities and explorations.
Less language is more learning
At our wBees young age, their brains are still developing at such a rapid pace. Due to this, the Montessori method of presenting works and modeling includes very minimal language. As you might remember from our Curriculum Night back in the fall, when teachers present a lesson to a child, there is little to no language. This is because their minds have difficulty processing both visual and auditory input at the same time at this age. For their learning purposes, we sit at their level, and model or demonstrate lessons with slow, deliberate, and intentional movements and gestures. We don’t narrate or explain each step verbally but rather say the name of the material we are using or describe an action in a single word.
When modeling a multi-step work, we’ll often use temporal words like “first, then, last” and leave space between each step to allow the child to compartmentalize each step as its own single unit. Again, we limit the use of language and explanations to encourage their visual processing to internalize maximally. We encourage you to try this at home next time you’re teaching your child something in the kitchen or using a new material at home!
Less direction is more problem-solving
In tandem with the above point, we find that fewer directions can promote a child to make the “X + Y = Z” reasoning on their own. Not giving children all the answers can be difficult as it’s common to think that we need to explain everything to young children. But on the contrary, their primary desire and job at this age is to figure out how the world works and with the opportunity to explore and investigate, they will likely get to the right conclusions on their own.
Giving them less directions also opens up the space for more trial and error which is greatly beneficial as well. We love mistakes and learning from them, particularly the ones we can learn to correct with limited guidance. When we allow for children to problem-solve on their own, they feel a greater sense of accomplishment and confidence in their own abilities to find solutions independently. We love those “aha!” moments with littles, particularly the ones that happen without an adult’s input.
Less talk is more regulation
Keeping with this theme, less talk is actually better during times of intense emotion. When students are having big feelings or have just gotten hurt or had a startling experience, you’ll find us using few words and providing maximum care and comfort. When a child is dysregulated, they’re not listening to anything you say, their brain is sending flight, fight, or freeze signals and their auditory input isn’t processing as usual. Therefore trying to explain the situation or talk them out of the situation isn’t much help. Instead assuring them they are safe, and that their feelings are valid while maintaining a calm and peaceful tone can help to co-regulate with a child in distress. After some breathing and finding that inner peace, then we can follow up with reflections and solutions. But in the moment, a few words of reassurance and safety might be all they need along with an offering of a hug or space.
Less tasks is more dedication
This is one area that can be tough to maintain as the balance between making life repetitively ___appropriately challenging is a tight line to walk. A great example of this is the recent “job chart” that our Dogwoods are using to distribute classroom responsibilities throughout the day. Certain jobs seem incredibly simple like “pushing in chairs” or “turning off the lights”. These intelligent Dogwoods are capable of so much more but that’s not the point. Seeing the dedication to the simple task, making sure each chair is perfectly tucked in, or keeping in mind the precise moment that the lights need to be turned on and off (and not playing with the light switch) becomes such an important responsibility in the eyes of the students, bringing them pride and dedication to a job well done. In our Sycamore classroom, the “dusting shelf” work and “chair scrubbing” work bring the same level of devoted focus and concentration. The children learn to keep these tasks sacred. Similarly, the Seedlings have begun to ask the children to scrub tables after lunch and the eagerness to help to keep the tabes spotless is wonderful!
Along with simple and meaningful tasks come the ways in which we speak and present them. Giving young children multi-step instructions, “after you put your plate away, wipe the table, and then find your shoes to go outside” can seem overwhelming and long even though we know they’re capable of each piece of those steps. Instead, asking children to focus on one thing at a time allows for them to focus on the task at hand. Bonus if you get on their level and say it softly and clearly it in their ears. That form of communication is found to be quite effective with littles!
