Approaches to Play and Learning (APL)

Other South Carolina Early Learning Standards sets

• Cognitive Development (CD)
• Emotional and Social Development (ESD)
• Health and Physical Development (HPD)
• Language Development and Communication (LDC)
• Mathematical Thinking and Expression (MTE)

Show interest in other children playing (watch, turn toward).APL-3a

Imitate sounds, facial expressions, or gestures (cover face with hands, hands up for “so big”).APL-3b

Play with simple objects, using them to make sounds and other interesting results. APL-3c

Begin to participate in give-and-take exchanges of sounds and gestures (“serve and return”).APL-3d

Play alongside other children, sometimes imitating their actions. APL-3e

Imitate adult actions with objects, first with real objects and then with objects that are used to represent another object (talk on phone, feed doll, use a chair as pretend car).APL-3f

Take turns in simple games (pat-a-cake, peek-a-boo).APL-3g

Offer toys and objects to others.APL-3h

Try to involve other children in play.  APL-3i

Make believe, pretend, and act out familiar life scenes, sometimes using objects to represent something else (a shoe becomes a phone). APL-3j

Play with others with a common purpose (play a chase game).  

Communicate about what is happening during pretend play (“He eating,” point to a picture on a communication board when feeding a toy baby with a spoon; “Now go work,” after putting on shoes and necktie). APL-3l

Engage in dramatic play themes that include interacting with other children, but often are not coordinated.APL-3m

Talk to peers and share materials during play. APL-3n

Engage in make-believe play with imaginary objects. APL-3o

Use language to begin and carry on play with others.  APL-3p

Express knowledge of their everyday lives and cultures through play (use chopsticks to eat, pretend to fix hair the way their family styles hair).  APL-3q

Develop and sustain more complex pretend play themes in cooperation with peers.  APL-3r

Use more complex and varied language to share ideas and influence others during play.APL-3s

Choose to use new knowledge and skills during play (add features to dramatic play scene related to class project, write list, build structure like displayed picture).APL-3t

Demonstrate their cultural values and “rules” through play (tell another child, “That’s not what we eat for breakfast.”). APL-3u

Use everyday household objects for play (spoons, pots and pans, plastic bowls).APL-4a

Try a familiar action with a new object or person (try to bounce a block, wave bye-bye to a toy, make a sound to get a new adult’s attention). APL-4b

React to unexpected events with laughter and interest.APL-4c

Do new things with familiar objects or combine them in unusual ways (use a dress-up boa as a snake, pound a drum with a plastic bottle, try to stack bears). APL-4d

Do new things with familiar objects or combine them in unusual ways (use a dress-up boa as a snake, pound a drum with a plastic bottle, try to stack bears).  APL-4e

Pretend to be somebody or something other than themselves.APL-4f

Pretend one object is really something different (use Legos® as food while stirring a pot)APL-4g

Offer new ideas about how to do or make things.APL-4h

Add new actions, props, or dress-up items to pretend play.  APL-4i

Use materials (e.g., art materials, instruments, construction paper, writing implements) or actions to represent experiences or ideas in novel ways. APL-4j

Experiment with language, musical sounds, and movement.APL-4k

Plan play scenarios (dramatic play, construction), and use or create a variety of props or tools to enact them. APL-4l

Expand the variety of roles taken during dramatic play and add more actions, language, or props to enact roles.APL-4m

Use materials or actions in increasingly varied and resourceful ways to represent experiences or ideas. APL-4n

Make up stories, songs, or dances for fun during play.  APL-4o

Invent new games. APL-4p

Explore new experiences both indoors and outdoors (toys, foods, people, spaces) with support of a familiar trusted adult.APL-5a

Try to do things that are hard for them (stretch to reach toy, work to crawl or walk, try to capture tiny crumb with pincer grasp).APL-5b

Look to adult for cues and, when reassured, proceed.APL-5c

Try unfamiliar experiences and interact with new people with a familiar adult nearby.  APL-5d

Move away from a familiar adult to explore, but check in frequently.APL-5e

Show interest in and try to opperate toys that offer a challenge. APL-5f

Explore freely without a familiar adult nearby.  APL-5g

Try out new skills in a familiar environment (learn to climb steps and then try to climb ladder to the slide). APL-5h

Approach a challenge with confidence (try to lift a heavy object, work on a difficult puzzle, “I can do it.”).APL-5i

Want to do things their own way (say “Me do it!”, push an adult’s hand away if the person is trying to help). APL-5j

Express a belief that they can do things that are hard.  APL-5k

Choose to participate in an increasing variety of familiar and new experiences. APL-5l

Accept new challenges when offered. APL-5m

Try things they are not sure they can do, while avoiding dangerous risks. APL-5n

Express a belief that they can do things that are hard.APL-5o

Approach new experiences independently. APL-5p

Ask to participate in new experiences that they have observed or heard about. APL-5q

Independently seek new challenges. APL-5r

Try one or two strategies to get what they want (make noise, move or reach toward things, reject unwanted item).  APL-6a

Try a familiar action in a new activity (hit a button on a new toy, try to open a visitor’s purse). APL-6b

Use trial and error to get something done, get what they want, or solve simple problems.APL-6c

Try one or two strategies to get what they want or solve a problem (try giving a peer an alternate toy to get a toy from him/her; try to put a ball in a box—if it will not fit, get a bigger box).APL-6d

Use available resources to accomplish a goal or solve a problem (push a stool to a counter to reach for something).  APL-6e

After unsuccessful attempts to solve a problem, ask for help from an adult (point, gesture, speak). APL-6f

Vary actions on purpose to solve a problem (when fitting a shape into a shape sorter, turn the shape to fit; when opening a drawer, shake, then pull its handle).APL-6g

Try a variety of strategies to get what they want or solve a problem. APL-6h

Use language to obtain help to solve a problem (tell adults, “My car broke.”).  APL-6i

Use materials in new ways to explore and solve problems (bring a big spoon to the sand table when all of the shovels are in use, pile blocks on a towel and drag them across the floor when there are too many to carry).  APL-6j

Seek and make use of ideas and help from adults and peers to solve problems (“How can I make this paint get off my pants?”).  APL-6k

Purposefully use a variety of strategies to solve different types of problems.APL-6l

Talk to themselves to work through the steps to solve a problem.APL-6m

Seek and make use of ideas and help from adults and peers to solve problems (“How can I make this paint get off my pants?”). APL-6n

Describe the steps they will use to solve a problem. APL-6o

Evaluate different strategies for solving a problem and select the strategy they feel will work without having to try it. APL-6p

Explain how they solved a problem to another person. APL-6q

Communicate with sounds or movements to indicate preferences (make excited sound for food they like, push away food they don’t like).APL-7a

Independently explore the different qualities of an object (notice the sound of a rattle, then be drawn to the “feel” of it, exploring it with mouth or hand). APL-7b

Express choices with actions or simple language (choose Cheerios® or a cracker). APL-7c

Seek to repeat experiences they enjoy or succeed at (do shape sorter over and over, climb up and down stairs).  APL-7d

Select and carry out activities (choose to set the table; gather play dishes and food, and then feed the dolls).APL-7e

Show increasing interest in performing tasks independently (put on jacket and try to zip it up). APL-7f

Show and/or tell others what they have done. APL-7g

Show increasing independence and purpose when making choices (“I want to go to blocks.”). APL-7h

Express goals or plans and follow through on them (“I’m going to draw my house.”).APL-7i

Make decisions about materials needed to carry out a task.APL-7j

Show increasing independence and purpose when making choices (“I’m going to the block area to make a track for my race car.”).APL-7k

Independently identify and seek things they need to complete activities or tasks (gather supplies and make a birthday card with a message). APL-7l

Set simple goals that extend over time, make plans and follow through (“Let’s make a rocket ship. We need blocks.”).APL-7m

Focus and attend to people and things around them.APL-8a

Repeat interesting actions over and over (push button to make toy pop up).APL-8b

Notice when the expected does not happen. APL-8c

Focus on selfselected activity for a short period of time (decide to play in the sandbox and stay there for a couple of minutes). APL-8d

Focus on an interesting activity or interaction shared with adults for a short period of time.  APL-8e

Focus on a person or a hands-on activity for a short period of time (participate in singing a song, stay focused long enough to build a block tower). APL-8f

Keep working on interesting activities with other things going on around them. APL-8g

Focus on ageappropriate activities for a short period of time, even with interruptions (continue working on a puzzle even though another child sitting nearby is laughing and talking). APL-8h

Remain engaged in more complex activities that they have chosen. APL-8i

Maintain focus and return to an activity after a break. APL-8j

Sometimes able to focus on what is relevant to a task (sort multicolored wooden beads by shape). APL-8k

Consistently remain engaged in selfdirected activities. APL-8l

Shift attention back to a task after having been diverted from it.  APL-8m

Try over and over to make things happen (make sounds to get attention, work to get to something that is out of reach). APL-9a

Keep trying to accomplish tasks that they are not able to do immediately (put on a jacket, engage a busy adult in play).  APL-9b

Seek help from others to complete a challenging activity. APL-9c

 Keep working on an activity even after setbacks (block structure collapses, puzzle piece does not fit). APL-9d

Seek help from others to complete a challenging activity (ask a teacher for help putting a puzzle away on a high shelf; ask a friend for help in naming an unfamiliar animal in a picture).  APL-9e

When something does not work, try different ways to complete the task (when a block tower falls, try putting the blocks together in a different way to build the tower again). APL-9f

Keep working to complete tasks, including those that are somewhat difficult. APL-9g

Seek help from others to complete a challenging activity (ask a teacher for help putting a puzzle away on a high shelf; ask a friend for help in naming an unfamiliar animal in a picture). APL-9h

When something does not work, try different ways to complete the task (when a block tower falls, try putting the blocks together in a different way to build the tower again).APL-9i

Plan and follow through on longer-term tasks (planting a seed and caring for the plant).APL-9j

Keep trying until a challenging activity is complete despite distractions or interruptions (multi-piece puzzle started before lunch and completed later). APL-9k