Community Playthings - Play and learning blog

Why are children drawn to small world play?

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:19:00 GMT

My brother and I used to spend hours creating miniature worlds with whatever we could find. We’d take Mum’s plants off the window ledge to make a forest and act out various scenarios with little figures. I could really relate to Stevenson’s poem “The land of counterpane”! Later as a mother I watched my own children do the same. I wish now that I had recorded their conversations as they played. Sometimes they acted out stories they had heard and sometimes they made up their own. I have witnessed similar small world play in schools and nurseries, both indoors and out. It intrigues me – why do children seem universally drawn to such play?

Perhaps part of the answer is that in small world play, as in role play, children can re-live experiences and come to grips with whatever life is bringing their way.

Perhaps another part of the answer is that when children create these miniature worlds, they are the big people! That has all kinds of ramifications.

Yet another aspect is that in such play, as in fairy tales, imagination is the guide. I believe children’s imagination is one of their greatest strengths. I was thrilled to learn that Einstein said imagination is more important than knowledge: “For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world.”

A safe and exciting place to play

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:18:00 GMT

I have known Sally Eaton and the work of The Childcare Company for many years. We worked as a team creating an “Enabling environments” area for an early years exhibit in 2009. Last year Sally approached Community Playthings with two new projects, but the best would be if I let her tell about them:

“Having spent many years training nursery practitioners to create stimulating, high quality learning environments, I wanted to ensure that our new nursery in Langley provided children with a safe and exciting place to play. I asked Community Playthings to advise me on planning the rooms and furniture so that it would enhance the learning activities we do with the children. I spent a whole afternoon at Robertsbridge and benefited greatly from their expertise and ideas. The model room was inspirational and allowed me to see first-hand how rooms could be divided to make cosy spaces. The Community Playthings planning team had endless patience and allowed me to try out various plans until we settled on the one that was best. The whole process from beginning to end was a pleasure and I am delighted with what we have created. Parents and visitors are highly complimentary and the whole nursery certainly has the wow factor!

“When we opened the nursery in September 2011 the children settled quickly. I am sure the warm homely environment that Community Playthings helped me to create contributed significantly to this process. We have now equipped Langley Hall Primary Academy, (our new Free School) reception classes with Community Playthings equipment and furniture also, so as the children move from the nursery to the school they will experience that continuity of approach.”

Sally Eaton, Education Director for Wellingtons/Langley Hall

Where do you put classroom displays?

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:34:00 GMT

Imagine you’re making a Rocks and Minerals display in your classroom. Where should it go? The pinboard is great for the sign you’ve drawn, but not for crystal and granite samples you’ve dug out of the closet. And where do you display the books on the topic you’ve collected? Wouldn’t it be a dream come true if your pinboard had adjustable shelves for rock samples and a rack for book display as well as a nice deep counter top underneath with ledges to keep things from sliding off? Well sometimes dreams do come true.

Just mention to your Head that Community Playthings could deliver it to your classroom in less than two weeks, and then see what happens!

How we design for children

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:33:00 GMT

Everyone understands that automobile design is a complex process with teams working for years to perfect each part. However I often get raised eyebrows when I tell people that it took three people two months to design our Pushcart. After all, it’s got four wheels and a handle. A week to design they would guess. Why two months?

Early years catalogues are full of little pink prams, plastic wheelbarrows, baby walkers and wagons. Each serves a specific function and not much else. Our challenge was to create one piece of equipment that would serve children from one-year-olds taking their first steps to rambunctious three-year-olds moving a pile of blocks from the construction corner to the role play area.

I will only touch on one aspect of the design.The Pushcart does not have swivelling castors at the front to make it easy to steer like a shopping cart. That might work for a two- or three-year-old, but when a one-year-old wants to use the Pushcart she crawls over and pulls herself up on the sides of the cart. Then her hands ‘walk’ up the handle. If there were castors on the front, the Pushcart would swivel sideways and the child would end up face-down on the floor. On the other hand, an older child needs to steer the cart. The team used anthropometric charts and observed children to figure out the balance of height and weight so that an older child could press down on the handle to steer it while the beginning walker would not tip it. The final Pushcart design looks simple, but there's much more to it than meets the eye.

Block play and literacy

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:59:00 GMT

About ten or twelve years ago, an early years advisor told me there was a strong connection between block play and literacy. That seemed a little far-fetched. The only connection I could see was that both writing and block play require good hand-eye coordination and a certain amount of manual dexterity. However I began observing block play more closely. I noticed that children’s block play is often inspired by stories they have heard. A teacher in our local school observed: “I just told my Year Two class a fairy tale about a princess, knights and a dragon; now they are busy in the construction area building castles, knights and dragons.” After this, I started seeing numerous instances where children would go to the construction area after hearing a story and re-enact it with blocks.

My next realisation was really exciting. Writing is much more than a physical act of making marks on paper. Writing is a symbolic act! Whether someone is writing in English or Chinese, each of those squiggles on the paper represents a sound or an idea. Block play is also symbolic: when children construct with blocks they are representing ideas. Expressing ideas in concrete ways prepares children to symbolise ideas in abstract ways later. Think of block play as a language in which children weave elaborate narratives. It is a language in which boys in particular become amazingly fluent. The boy in this photo is Ian. He had rebuilt, in intricate detail, a map on the flyleaf of his favourite storybook. I asked Ian’s teacher Martha, “Could Ian have drawn that map with paper and pencil?” She replied that the pinnacle of Ian’s mark-making skills was drawing rainbows. Nothing more advanced than that. If Ian were not fluent in this language of blocks – if he did not have this medium in which to express his ideas – no one would have known that he had that map memorised!

I hope you are as excited by this as I am. It makes me realise how vital it is that we provide each child with a medium in which he or she feels at home. Then children can build their own strong foundation for future literacy.

Den building under the kitchen table

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:04:00 GMT

When I was little my brothers and I used to transform our kitchen table into a den. My sister and I also used to turn our bunk-bed into a ship. A generation later, I watched my children finding or creating their own cosy spaces. Visiting nurseries in recent years, I often notice a lack of intimate corners into which children can withdraw from all the busy activity. Many rooms are full of cushions and equipment but there is nowhere for a child to have a little personal space. Some settings have found a way to provide such nooks, even if it is not much more than some material draped in a corner. But it is difficult for many because they are not allowed to attach anything to their walls. That's why we designed these new Cosy spaces. Some, like the Swallow's nest, have been figured out for you – but you can also take the panels, posts and arches and design your own cosy spaces for the children in your care. Have fun!

Behind the scenes at a Community Playthings photoshoot

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:54:00 GMT

I always look forward to the day when a new product is in production and it's time to photograph it for the Community Playthings catalogue. We roll out the white paper for the backdrop and make sure all of the props are ready. In the morning our photographer shows up with the lights and studio camera and we are off. Although photoshoot days are hectic, the saving grace is that we are working with children. I was a teacher before working at Community Playthings and miss my days with the children. In an area off the set we keep the children happily occupied until the lights, furniture and props are adjusted to everyone's satisfaction. Then the best part begins as we bring in the children. To avoid dusty footprints on the paper we often lift them over the lighting wires and into place. As the images come up on the screen we wait for that perfect shot. These are not models posing; they are children – alive, moving, sometimes funny – and all sorts of quirky things happen. We want to see them engrossed in their play, not smiling at the camera.

The project this time was our new child-sized rocking chair. We asked Mary to tell Dae Mun a story so we could show two children communicating while using the new rocking chairs. Well, we all got to listen to the story and Dae Mun became so interested in the story that he forgot to rock. So that's the story behind one of the hundreds of pictures that never made it into the catalogue.

Hollow block camels

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 09:10:00 GMT

6 January is traditionally 'Three Kings Day' for many cultures. This year it came last Friday, and as I walked past our local nursery that morning, here's what I saw: The children had spontaneously built camels, which they mounted and rode (don't be scared – none of them fell off) singing 'We three kings of Orient are' at top volume! You can see how engrossed they were. I love how they use the hollow blocks for whatever they need at the moment – and they never run out of ideas.

Watch the new Nursery gym in action at Pen Green

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:50:00 GMT

We asked Siren Films to spend a week in Pen Green's Baby and Toddler Nest to film activity on and around our new Nursery Gym. It's exciting to observe young children benefiting from the new gym. Enjoy young adventurers using the gym's ramp, slide, steps, tunnel and bridge. Watch them experiment with cause-and-effect, action and sound – and then see them snuggle into its cosy hidey-holes. Supporting healthy physical development is the primary function of the gym, but children's spontaneous social interactions and their trial-and-error problem solving show how this equipment serves all areas of learning. With an introduction by Dr Margy Whalley and sensitive narration throughout, this 20-minute DVD can stimulate discussion about the importance of physical activity and positive risk for young children.

For your FREE copy of the DVD, email us with your current mailing address or phone 0800 387 457.

How does room layout affect child behaviour?

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:32:00 GMT

Through the centuries those who care for children have understood the significance of a child's surroundings. Already in the 1800s, the childcare expert Froebel stressed the importance of environmental design in the sense of a garden, natural, organic, ever-changing. He maintained that when care is applied to children's surroundings, behaviour can be guided and inspired. The simplest of locations can become a haven of play and learning.

The amount of space in a room and how it is organized affects children's behaviour. A tight space may encourage working together but can also lead to aggression and frustration. Reducing clutter and installing flexible furnishings can maximize the use of each area. On the other hand, too much space in a room can cause children to be restless and unfocused and have low interaction with their peers. Using dividers to create activity areas or pockets reduces distraction and can help teachers facilitate absorbed play.

Are the children in your care deeply engrossed in their activities, or are many at loose ends? The difference may well stem from room layout, good or bad. As you are choosing the furniture you will also want to consider the way in which the furniture is laid out. This is why we offer a free room layout service which can help you create flexible learning environments and design ideal interest areas which will encourage the behaviour that you want to nurture.

Learning through repetition

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 15:42:00 GMT

Young children learn through movement and play. Action is essential for their healthy development. The Nursery gym provides up-and-down and over-and-under activity as well as varied tactile experience.

Crossing an arched bridge is a challenge which young children repeat over and over. Once they have mastered that, there's a new challenge to discover.

Outdoor learning

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 09:00:00 GMT

Outdoor activity helps children keep a positive outlook. There is no aspect of the national curriculum that cannot be taught outdoors at the Key Stage 1 level. This approach is shared by Coombes Primary School where they state, ‘We continue to develop our outdoor environment as our largest classroom.’

Froebel maintained that the capacity to struggle persistently lies at the foundation of character; children love to encounter challenge in play and work. Outdoor involvement provides such challenge.

Children develop their vestibular sense (balance) through teetering, tipping, spinning, swinging, rocking, jumping, bouncing, sliding and fast forward motion. They have a biological drive for such experiences and use any opportunity to run, slide down banisters, roll down hills, hop from place to place. In order to develop perfect coordination of body and brain, children need action in which their muscles encounter resistance: pushing, pulling, stretching, carrying. They like to hang from bars, to dig and rake, to feel tension in their limbs. Skipping rope, climbing trees, pedalling bicycles and pushing wheelbarrows are actions that fill this need and only happen outdoors. Significantly, movement is actually what allows children to sit still.

From Lighting the fire – a free booklet on outdoor play and hands-on learning.