Analyse_'Treasure'_Baskets_and_Discuss_Their_Importance_in_Child_Development.

Treasure Baskets were invented and created by Elinor Goldschmied. It is a collection of everyday and natural objects which aims to offer stimulus through the senses and sensorial exploration. Items in the basket should vary in weight, size, texture, colour, taste, temperature and sound and all the items are chosen to stimulate one or more of the five senses. Children should explore Treasure Baskets, using their senses, to discover what an object is, what it feels they like, what it smells like (sometimes what it tastes like!) and to absorb the external knowledge and build an understanding of the world that surrounds them, they learn through sensory exploration and their individual experiences. Children love touching, sucking, smelling, licking, banging, picking up and dropping. It's a fun way to play for young children and uses their curiosity to educate them. Treasure baskets aim to aid a child's development through a range of stimulus offered in each basket, it's a simple, well known, fun and very effective way of enhancing the early experiences of a child and helps them to understand differences and show preference. Through using treasure baskets babies learn to make choices, children gain reassurance from being able to choose, select, reject and return objects independently. Decision making is an important skill to develop from an early age, whilst exploring the basket it is only the child's individual choice pushed by natural curiosity for exploration. They also help them to develop their concentration and children absorb the outside environment like a sponge. When focused on activity children can concentrate on self chosen task for extended period of time. They also encourage problem solving as children pick up and drop objects again and again to test the sound that they make, to find about an objects properties eg. hard, soft, breakable. They build on childrens observations and communication whilst they watch each others reactions to items, they swap objects with each other (using verbal and non verbal communication) naming actions and objects but also using body language eg. facial expressions. Especially in older children they will develop logical thoughts and mathematical learning by children fitting items inside each other, looking at their reflection in shiny objects, testing the weight of objects and testing their density. Exploration helps children to experience and understand similarities and differences and encourages them to develop fine motor skills and hand eye coordination. The contents of a treasure basket should be changed regularly, but all components are chosen for their stimulating shapes, sizes, textures, smells and sounds. The contents may be random eg. Seashells, wooden bracelet, egg cup, bells, large fir cone, bath plug with chain, make up brushes, a small knitted toy, beanbag, piece of flannel, velvet powder puff, bags of herbs, leather key ring, coloured ribbons. Or can be themed eg. Natural objects: fir cones, pebbles, shells, feathers, corks, pumice stone, loofah, conkers, natural sponge, avocado pear stones, Wooden objects: clothes peg, small bowl, curtain rings, wooden nail brush, wooden egg cup, spoons , wooden bowl, honey dipper, wooden egg, pastry brush, shaving brush, small baskets, paint brush, rolling pin, cotton reels, wood off-cuts, Metal objects: length of metal chain, spoons, tin lids, garlic crusher, metal beaker, brass curtain rings, bunch of keys, metal bowl, tea strainer, whisk, empty tin, bells, Leather, textile, rubber, or fur objects: coloured ribbons, velvet powder puff, piece of leather, flannel, woollen ball, leather purse, rubber gloves, small soft toy, small flannel, rubber ball, tennis ball, fur fabric, small raffia mat, leather glasses case. Every treasure basket is unique to its creator but its purpose is the same. The best treasure baskets are organic – growing over time when new items are spotted to add older children can also help select items for their baskets. Treasure Baskets are there to be used during quiet times, when a carer will sit close by and allow a child to explore the objects by themselves and the carer will just watch them carefully to see how they interact with their ‘treasures’ and make sure they explore safely, a child should be left to explore ther basket completely independantly and be left to make their own choices and set their own pace for exploring without carer interruption unless the child is in danger.