{"id":10931,"date":"2023-01-12T09:58:31","date_gmt":"2023-01-12T04:28:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learn.toddleapp.com\/?post_type=talk_post&#038;p=10931"},"modified":"2026-07-09T13:23:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T07:53:51","slug":"active-observation-as-an-early-years-tool","status":"publish","type":"talk_post","link":"https:\/\/www.toddleapp.com\/learn\/talk-post\/active-observation-as-an-early-years-tool\/","title":{"rendered":"<b>Active Observation as an Early Years Tool<\/b>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Observation is a powerful tool in the Early Years &#8211; one that can be used to gain deeper insights into children\u2019s interests, play behaviours and thinking. However, there are so many things to do in a day, that active observation can often be an afterthought, or a hurried event. How can observation be elevated and valued by all members of the EY team &#8211; from support assistants, through to educators and school leaders?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">Join experienced EY leaders Maia Bassett and Lisa Kane as the conversation around our role as observers and researchers is initiated, explored and enriched.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group learnings has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff6f3\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 class=\"has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-highlights\"><strong>Highlights:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Discover the beauty in slowing down, waiting, and wondering<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Consider the practicalities as you build your observation skills<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Enhance play and learning with the child at the centre as you respond to your observations<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading\">Related resource:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.toddleapp.com\/learn\/resource_post\/active-observation-in-the-early-years-a-toolkit\/\">Active observation for early years &#8211; A toolkit<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Observation is a powerful tool in the Early Years &#8211; one that can be used to gain deeper insights into children\u2019s interests, play behaviours and thinking. However, there are so many things to do in a day, that active observation can often be an afterthought, or a hurried event. How can observation be elevated and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":323,"featured_media":10934,"menu_order":0,"template":"talk\/talk-post-container.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":true},"categories":[299,296,662],"tags":[405,319,316],"region":[],"event_type":[],"coauthors":[406,408],"class_list":["post-10931","talk_post","type-talk_post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-early-years","category-inquiry-based-learning","category-play-based-learning","tag-early-years","tag-english","tag-pyp"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v27.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Active Observation as an Early Years Tool - Toddle Learn<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Focus on the role of early childhood educators as researchers and observers, and get playful strategies and resources in this free workshop.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Active Observation as an Early Years Tool\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Focus on the role of early childhood educators as researchers and observers, and get playful strategies and resources in this free workshop.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.toddleapp.com\/learn\/talk-post\/active-observation-as-an-early-years-tool\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Toddle Learn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-09T07:53:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.toddleapp.com\/learn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Group-8118.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1968\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1476\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"Lisa Kane, Maia Bassett\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toddleapp.com\\\/learn\\\/talk-post\\\/active-observation-as-an-early-years-tool\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toddleapp.com\\\/learn\\\/talk-post\\\/active-observation-as-an-early-years-tool\\\/\",\"name\":\"Active Observation as an Early Years Tool - Toddle Learn\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toddleapp.com\\\/learn\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toddleapp.com\\\/learn\\\/talk-post\\\/active-observation-as-an-early-years-tool\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toddleapp.com\\\/learn\\\/talk-post\\\/active-observation-as-an-early-years-tool\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toddleapp.com\\\/learn\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/Group-8118.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-01-12T04:28:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-09T07:53:51+00:00\",\"description\":\"Focus on the role of early childhood educators as researchers and observers, and get playful strategies and resources in this free workshop.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toddleapp.com\\\/learn\\\/talk-post\\\/active-observation-as-an-early-years-tool\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toddleapp.com\\\/learn\\\/talk-post\\\/active-observation-as-an-early-years-tool\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toddleapp.com\\\/learn\\\/talk-post\\\/active-observation-as-an-early-years-tool\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toddleapp.com\\\/learn\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/Group-8118.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toddleapp.com\\\/learn\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/Group-8118.png\",\"width\":1968,\"height\":1476},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toddleapp.com\\\/learn\\\/talk-post\\\/active-observation-as-an-early-years-tool\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toddleapp.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Learn\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toddleapp.com\\\/learn\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Active Observation as an Early Years Tool\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toddleapp.com\\\/learn\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.toddleapp.com\\\/learn\\\/\",\"name\":\"Toddle Learn\",\"description\":\"Toddle Talks, Articles &amp; 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