Enhancements that incorporate junk modelling can have numerous benefits and unexpected outcomes, says Amy Jackson

Parents and staff have always been happy to collect and recycle rubbish for activities – toilet rolls, cans and cartons are free resources that are easy to refresh. We use junk modelling in many ways, including using it to create enhancements for the environment.

When children contribute to setting up enhancements, it can give them a sense of control and ownership over their environment and may engage them in play in those areas more deeply. One of our small-world areas outside includes a pit of play bark, a secured upright pallet crate covered in a camouflage net, containers designed to go over doors with small-world toys in that hook onto the pallet crate planks, and various loose parts including pebbles, shells, pinecones and sticks. There are also tree stumps for sitting on or using as a platform, and they are numbered to encourage incorporating numbers in their play.

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