Photo Rewind — What Did I Do?

The adult quietly takes three or four photos while the child builds, draws, or plays; afterwards the two of them scroll through the pictures and the child tells the story of what they did, what happened, and what they would do differently.

  1. During play, take 3–4 photos at different moments — the start, a middle point, a problem (a collapsed tower, a spilled pot), and the end. Do not interrupt or pose the child.
  2. Later the same day, sit together with the phone or tablet. Show the first photo and ask an open question: “What were you doing here?”
  3. Follow the child’s story. Repeat and stretch what they say: “You built it tall and then it fell — what do you think made it fall?”
  4. At a “problem” photo, ask the thinking question: “What did you try next?” or “Was that hard or easy for you?”
  5. End with a look forward: “If you did it again tomorrow, would you change anything?” Accept “no” as a full answer.
  6. Optional: the child picks one photo to keep and dictates a sentence for you to write underneath.

Variation: no camera? The child draws “the beginning” and “the end” of what they did and talks you through both. Or do a spoken bedtime rewind of one activity from the day — first, then, at the end. For a short video clip instead of photos, pause it and ask “What were you thinking right there?”

Requirements

  • Space: Wherever the child normally plays, plus a cosy spot to sit together afterwards
  • Surface: No special surface needed
  • Materials: A phone or tablet camera (or paper and crayons for the drawing version); whatever the child is playing with
  • Participants: 1 adult + 1 child
  • Supervision: Light — the adult photographs unobtrusively and then gives 5–10 minutes of full attention for the rewind

Rationale & Objective

Reflection is the “review” in HighScope’s plan-do-review and the subdomain measurement “can describe what they did and what happened.” Epstein (2003) explains that recalling goes beyond listing events — children connect what they intended with what occurred, which is where self-evaluation begins. Five-year-olds reflect much better with a concrete prompt than from memory alone: Robson (2010) found that when young children talked about recordings of their own play, they expressed more metacognitive knowledge than was visible during the play itself. This is also the logic of Reggio Emilia documentation — photos and transcripts are revisited with children so that their own thinking becomes something they can look at and discuss (Rinaldi, 2006; Project Zero & Reggio Children, 2001). The adult’s open, elaborative questions matter too — Fivush, Haden & Reese (2006) review evidence that elaborative reminiscing supports children’s memory and narrative skills.

Progress Indicators

  • Early: labels what is in the photo (“blocks,” “me”); needs yes/no questions; cannot yet say what happened before or after the picture
  • Developing: tells what they did in one or two linked steps (“I made a tower and it fell”); answers “what happened next?” with some help
  • Proficient: narrates beginning, middle, and end; mentions a problem and what they tried; says whether something was hard or easy for them
  • Advanced: explains why something worked or did not; suggests what they would change next time; brings up an earlier session unprompted (“last time the bottom was too small”)

Safety Notes

  • Physical risk is negligible; the cautions are emotional. Never use the photos to review misbehaviour or to prove the child wrong — this is a rewind of their ideas, not evidence
  • Keep it short (5–10 minutes) and stop when interest fades. An interrogation teaches children to dread reflection
  • Ask before sharing the photos with relatives or online; it models respect for the child’s ownership of their work
  • Screen use here is brief and shared — put the device away afterwards so the rewind does not slide into general scrolling
  • If your 5-year-old very rarely recounts any past event even with photos and gentle prompts, mention it to your paediatrician or a speech-language therapist

Hints

  • Playfulness: call it “the replay” and let the child press the buttons. Use a remote-control voice — “rewind… pause… play” — and let them pause on the photo they find funniest
  • Sustain interest: vary what you photograph — baking, a bike ride, a den, a painting. Print a few favourites into a small “How I Did It” book the child can show to grandparents
  • Common mistake: turning the rewind into a quiz or a lesson (“and what should you have done?”). Ask real questions you do not know the answer to, then wait
  • Limited space: needs no space at all. The spoken version works in the car, in the bath, or at bedtime with no device
  • Cross-domain: sequencing words — first, then, after that, finally (language); putting printed photos in order (early numeracy and time concepts); dictating captions (early writing)
  • Progression: label single photos → tell the sequence across three photos → explain a problem and what was tried → say what to change next time → make a plan before playing and compare it with the photos afterwards

Sources

  • Epstein, A. S. (2003). “How Planning and Reflection Develop Young Children’s Thinking Skills.” Young Children, 58(5), 28–36
  • Robson, S. (2010). “Self-regulation and metacognition in young children’s self-initiated play and Reflective Dialogue.” International Journal of Early Years Education, 18(3), 227–241
  • Rinaldi, C. (2006). In Dialogue with Reggio Emilia: Listening, Researching and Learning. Routledge — documentation as visible listening
  • Project Zero & Reggio Children (2001). Making Learning Visible: Children as Individual and Group Learners. Reggio Children
  • Fivush, R., Haden, C. A. & Reese, E. (2006). “Elaborating on Elaborations: Role of Maternal Reminiscing Style in Cognitive and Socioemotional Development.” Child Development, 77(6), 1568–1588
  • HighScope Preschool Curriculum — plan-do-review sequence; Approaches to Learning key developmental indicator on Reflection