creating transformative experiences for learning disabled young people creating transformative experiences for learning disabled young peopleFor many educators, motivation can sometimes feel like the missing piece of the puzzle.
You’ve carefully planned the activity. You’ve adapted resources. You’ve thought about sensory needs and communication preferences. Yet some learners still seem reluctant to participate.
When this happens, it can be tempting to look for a reward.
A sticker.
A token.
A favourite activity at the end of the session.
A reward chart.
These approaches are familiar and often well-intentioned. In some situations, they may help encourage participation in the short term. But there is another question worth asking:
What happens when a learner becomes interested in the activity itself?
At Bamboozle, we’ve spent more than three decades exploring ways to create environments that spark curiosity, invite participation and support meaningful engagement. Again and again, we have seen that lasting motivation rarely comes from rewards alone. Instead, it grows when children and young people feel safe, interested and genuinely involved in what is happening around them.
A reward can sometimes secure compliance.
A learner completes a task.
They receive a reward.
The activity ends.
But compliance and engagement are not the same thing.
Engagement is deeper.
It happens when a child becomes absorbed in an experience. They explore. They investigate. They communicate. They discover.
The motivation comes from within.
This distinction matters because our ultimate goal is not simply to get learners through activities. It is to create opportunities where they can actively participate, develop confidence and experience the joy of discovering something for themselves.
When participation is driven solely by rewards, attention can shift away from the experience itself.
The question becomes:
“What do I get if I do this?”
Rather than:
“I wonder what will happen if I try this?”
That shift may seem small, but it can have a significant impact on how learners experience learning.
Think about the moments when children become completely absorbed in play.
Nobody has offered a sticker.
Nobody has promised a prize.
Nobody is keeping score.
Yet they remain deeply engaged.
Why?
Because curiosity is doing the work.
Curiosity encourages exploration.
Exploration creates discovery.
Discovery builds motivation.
At Bamboozle, we often see that some of the most meaningful engagement happens when learners are given an opportunity to investigate something interesting without the pressure of producing a particular outcome.
The focus moves away from performance and towards participation.
One of the most powerful shifts we can make is moving from teaching towards an answer to creating opportunities for discovery.
A learner who feels they are being tested may experience pressure.
A learner who is invited to explore has permission to be curious.
That permission matters.
There is no obvious right answer.
No fear of getting it wrong.
No expectation to perform.
Instead, there is an invitation to participate.
This is particularly important for SEND learners who may have experienced repeated situations where they feel uncertain about what is expected of them.
When discovery becomes the goal, learning often feels safer.
And when learners feel safe, engagement has room to grow.
This principle emerged repeatedly during our long-term partnership with Greenside School.
One of the aims of the project was to create environments where learners could take the lead, communicate spontaneously and participate more actively in their own learning. Staff wanted to move away from highly directive approaches and create more opportunities for exploration and learner ownership.
As the project developed, staff reported increased confidence, greater learner participation and improved self-regulation. They spoke about the value of allowing learners more time, more space and more opportunities to shape experiences themselves.
One teacher reflected:
“I have found the Bamboozle Approach has significantly changed my practice for the better. It has facilitated my belief that all children/learners learn better through a play learning environment.”
What’s striking about this feedback is that it doesn’t focus on behaviour management or reward systems.
It focuses on creating conditions where engagement can emerge naturally.
Motivation is closely connected to emotional safety.
If a learner is anxious about making mistakes, being corrected or failing to meet expectations, participation can feel risky.
In these situations, even highly motivating rewards may struggle to overcome the fear underneath.
That’s why so much of the Bamboozle Approach centres around reducing pressure.
When children feel able to contribute without fear of failure, they often become more willing to experiment.
When they become more willing to experiment, they become more willing to engage.
And when engagement increases, learning opportunities increase too.
Supporting intrinsic motivation does not require expensive resources or a complete change of curriculum.
Often it begins with relatively small adjustments.
For example:
These approaches communicate an important message:
Your ideas matter.
Your curiosity matters.
Your way of participating matters.
That message can be incredibly powerful.
One of the challenges with rewards is that they assume everybody is motivated by the same thing.
In reality, motivation is deeply personal.
What captivates one learner may have little meaning for another.
Some learners are motivated by sensory experiences.
Others by storytelling.
Others by movement, music, humour or relationships.
Observation plays a crucial role in helping us understand what genuinely interests each individual.
When we take time to notice these interests, we gain valuable information that can help us create meaningful opportunities for engagement.
Rather than trying to motivate children from the outside, we begin building learning experiences around what already motivates them from within.
If you’d like to explore these ideas further, our digital training course, Discover 9 Practical Strategies for Engaging SEND Children and Young People, provides practical guidance for creating environments that support authentic motivation and meaningful participation.
Developed from more than three decades of Bamboozle’s work alongside SEND children, young people, families and professionals, the course shares approaches that have been refined through real-world practice in schools and specialist settings.
Through interactive learning, engaging video content and practical examples, you’ll discover how to:
You’ll also hear examples from educators who have seen the impact of the Bamboozle Approach in their own settings and gain practical ideas that can be implemented immediately.
Whether you’re a teacher, teaching assistant, therapist, practitioner, parent or school leader, the course offers realistic, achievable strategies that put relationships, curiosity and participation at the heart of learning.
Because lasting motivation doesn’t come from what happens at the end of an activity.
It grows when children and young people discover that taking part is rewarding in itself.
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