Behind the Behavior: Play Schemas Explained

A Virtual Workshop for Early Childhood Teachers Who Want to Finally Understand WHY Kids Do What They Do

Live Virtual Workshop | April 30 | 5:00 – 6:30pm | $9

You know that kid.

The one who dumps every single bin. Every day. The one who lines everything up in rows and loses it if you move one thing. The one who spins — themselves, the wheels on the truck, anything that rotates — for what feels like hours. The one who wraps everything in blankets, stuffs things into bags, fills every container they can find.

You’ve tried redirecting. You’ve tried explaining. You’ve wondered if something is going on.

Here’s what nobody told you: they’re not misbehaving. They’re learning.

And once you understand what’s actually driving that behavior, everything changes.

What is a play schema?

A schema is a repeated pattern of behavior that children use to explore and make sense of the world. Dumping, filling, spinning, lining up, wrapping, throwing — these aren’t random. They’re driven by a deep, internal urge to understand how things work.

When you know how to recognize a schema, you stop seeing a problem to manage and start seeing a child who is completely absorbed in exactly the kind of learning their brain needs right now.

That shift? It makes your job so much easier.

In this workshop, you’ll:

✔ Learn what play schemas are and why they matter for early childhood development

✔ Recognize the most common schemas playing out in your classroom RIGHT NOW

✔ Understand the difference between schema-driven behavior and behavior that actually needs redirecting

✔ Walk away with real, practical ways to respond — and ways to set up your environment to support schemas instead of fighting them

✔ Finally have the language to explain what you’re seeing to families and colleagues

Tucson Values Teachers is providing limited scholarships for educators to attend PD opportunities, if you are interested, click here for more information

• For questions regarding this resource, please contact Nature Created Play (NCP).
• Contact Name: Kyla Maciosek
• Phone No: 520-200-1838
• Email Address: kyla@naturecreatedplay.com