Case study: lacking confidence

Right from the start, three-year-old Jonathan was timid and withdrawn in the nursery. He preferred to play on his own, rejecting most social contacts from the other children, and he played with the same toys again and again. Staff realised this pattern of behaviour stemmed from his lack of confidence, but all attempts to encourage him to play with his peers were unsuccessful. To enhance their relationship and to boost his confidence, his key worker planned to play with him on his own for two ten-minute periods every day. During these brief one-to-one sessions Jonathan was typically given a puzzle toy to play with, one that proved too challenging for him. At first he asked to play with an easier toy - his key worker, however, encouraged him to try to find the solution, whether that was to combine the pieces of a jigsaw, to match objects by colour or to copy a particular pattern with building blocks. As the weeks progressed, Jonathan's minor success with these toys sharpened his motivation. Soon he willingly tried new toys that were presented to him.