Elinor Goldschmied

Elinor Violet Goldschmied was an English educationalist. Educated at the London School of Economics and qualified as a psychiatric social worker, she worked in an Italian state institution for illegitimate and abandoned children before moving to a home for single mothers in Milan, overseeing changes to the education of children and the training of staff, leading to a transformation of childcare in Italy. Goldschmied developed the concept of "heuristic play" as a means of relax play for babies under the age of two and for maintaining a special relationship with an individual member of staff. She also introduced a "treasure basket" containing non-dangerous household items in a low, open basket, an exploration task that was designed not to have any physical intervention from an overseeing adult.