Opposites give us a fuller and more accurate understanding of properties, as they are either side of a continuum. At one end is 'hot' and at the other 'cold', and in between there are 'warm', 'lukewarm', and a range of temperature that can be measured.
Very young children will have some understanding of opposites, such as 'big' and 'little'. These will feel like absolute definitions to them, and it is only as they gain experience that they will begin to see that these are comparative terms.
Young children may see themselves as 'little', with adults and older children as 'big'. A new baby will make them realise that they are sometimes 'big'.
When you spill some of the water that you are drinking on to your T-shirt, it feels wet, but in comparison with the T-shirt pulled dripping out of the bucket of water, it feels just about dry. A hot cup of tea will slowly go cold, but be nowhere near as cold as an iced drink.
It takes time and discussion and experience for children to appreciate these distinctions, and dealing with the extremes helps them to understand the gradations.
Young children learn the words 'big' and 'little' early, and apply them to various situations where a more refined vocabulary would be useful.
Our role as early years practitioners is to broaden children's experiences and at the same time their vocabulary.
As children gain experience, they will be able to talk about stages along the continuum. The Three Bears and The Three Billy Goats Gruff will help here, because a 'medium-sized' character features in each story.
Establishing more precise definitions is an important part of children's general intellectual development.
Work on opposites lends itself in particular to activities involving science and mathematics, such as comparing and sorting objects and looking closely at their properties.
Children can find it easy to sort objects by type. Much more difficult is to sort things by property such as 'wet', where children need to understand that there is a range from one extreme to the other.
Some properties can be gauged using standard forms of measure. We measure hot and cold by degrees, wet and dry by defining relative humidity, heavy and light by grams and kilograms, fast and slow using miles per hour or revolutions per minute.
Abstractions, such as behaviour and feelings, again cover a range, but cannot be measured easily or conveniently.
This topic opens up opportunities for children to acknowledge and discuss being happy and sad, good and naughty, and the continuum between these extremes. These sensitive ideas need careful handling, and cuddly toys and puppets are useful intermediaries for discussion.
Because the idea of opposites involves thinking skills such as reasoning, the role of the practitioner is crucial. We need to provide a rich, stimulating and well-planned environment, and be there to initiate activities, and to support children in their own play.
The supportive presence of a practitioner heightens the level of children's play, even in the role of observer and listener.
When exploring opposites, we have an important role to play in modelling language, demonstrating curiosity, and talking through problem solving.
Importantly, we need to model how we recognise extremes and assess the gradations by talking through in detail what we are doing and thinking, observing, classifying, reflecting and surmising. In this way, we can encourage children to do the same, and to develop the skills connecting understanding with appropriate language.
Sheila Ebbutt is managing director and Carole Skinner is product development manager of BEAM Education (tel: 020 7684 3323)