'we could have a kangaroo-jumping competition in the playground, we could do it like this...' suggests one child, and off he goes, on an impromptu demonstration around the table. Another child takes up the idea, 'Can we have a whole Australia day? We could make koala bear masks and do something about the Outback.' Ideas zoom around the room as if they were infectious! The place? Playtime Out of School Club, Cullompton, Devon, where children are gathered around a huge piece of paper in the school playground, each with a pen poised. The activity? A thought-storming session that is used as a starting point to plan future activities.
Our club promotes the concept that consultation with children is intrinsic to high quality provision, and so playworkers routinely look for opportunities to consult children throughout everyday activities. In particular, the children's input is considered crucial when planning the activity programme, and when evaluating it. Children gain a sense of ownership of the programme when they design and assess the themes and activities, and their involvement ensures that there are plenty of pastimes that they find interesting, exciting and appealing.
The process of consultation is also beneficial for the children's development. It gives them an opportunity to contribute their thoughts, to listen to other people's views and to work as a member of a team. They can gain experience in problem solving as they consider how to make improvements and changes, and eventually, as their skills are refined, they can not only be reflective, but also objective during the evaluation process. Being consulted promotes feelings of being valued and appreciated, and sends the message to children that they have a worthwhile contribution to make, boosting their self-esteem and confidence levels.
Thought storming
We hold regular planning sessions with the children. Although we're flexible about the way planning is done to allow imagination and creativity to flourish, we find that thought storming is a popular method. We place a big piece of paper on a table or the floor, and the children and adults gather around so that we can all write on it together. Everyone is encouraged to call out theme ideas as they come to them, and these are written down. The group then spends a few minutes thinking of activities they would like to do connected to that theme. For instance, someone may suggest a theme of autumn, leading to activity ideas such as collecting conkers and leaf printing - these are also noted. When the group dries up, we quickly move on to another theme idea. Sometimes random activities that are not connected to a theme are suggested. These are added to the paper too. Some children like to illustrate their thoughts, and so pictures feature as well as words.
At this stage all ideas are accepted and recorded - we don't stop to think about how impossible they may seem or how to go about doing them, as this slows down the thought-process and stifles creativity. It's important to keep the group's energy levels high, and ideas generally begin to flow easily as adults and children bounce ideas around, often inspired by a previous suggestion. The process leaves us with a host of ideas.
Wide Appeal
At a follow-up meeting, the playworkers decide which themes will feature in the next holiday programme and which will take place after school.
Activities must be balanced within the overall programme to promote all areas of the children's development, and they must be diverse enough to be interesting and exciting for a wide audience of children, allowing for their different ages, interests and abilities.
Now is the time to consider feasibility - adaptions of an original idea may be necessary. For instance, one child suggested that we appear on his favourite TV programme. That couldn't be arranged, but on a 'Media Day' the playworkers were able to video him and his friends acting out the programme. The children even split into groups and each did an advertisement half way through! He was delighted with the finished product, which of course the group watched on TV.
The playworkers fill in daily plans, detailing how and when each selected activity is to take place. These are a guide, allowing for flexibility and choice, as we know the children may be inspired to take a theme into a new direction on the day. Plenty of free play must feature around the activity slots, and remain available to children who choose not to join in with a structured opportunity. As bookings are received from parents and carers, the playworkers check the specific needs of the children, and, with the support of our in-house inclusion officer, activities are adapted if necessary to ensure accessibility for all children.
Finally, the plans are summarised in an exciting written programme. The club aims to reflect the enthusiasm that exists during the children's planning process by using catchy language to appeal to children and capture their imagination. This is distributed as advertising, and used to draw children's attention to the opportunities available to them - the imaginative wording has proved to be a great motivator when it comes to whipping up enthusiasm for activities! For instance, painting materials, clay, books, model creatures and sand were all available on a session with a dinosaur theme. Our programme read: * Creative Clay - make a fabulous fossil to take home
* Dozing Dinosaurs - find them sleeping in the sand tray
* Read all about it - fascinating fossil facts to find out
* Pre-historic Painting - paint a huge dino on giant size paper
The children couldn't wait to get started!
Once the activities have taken place, it's time to evaluate with the children. We provide many different ways to do this, and ring the changes frequently to keep the process fun. We use simple questionnaires for children to fill in, detailing what they liked and disliked, what they would like to do again, or indeed do differently next time.
Wiggly worm evaluation
We have several pictorial methods of evaluating. A popular example involves using chalk to draw a long wiggly worm on the playground, with sections marked off along the body, numbered one to five. The children then rank their favourite activities by writing or drawing them on the appropriate part of the worm. We've also outlined a huge heart and stuck it on one wall, while sticking a sketch of a dustbin on another. We invited the children to write or draw on the activities they 'loved' and any they would like to 'bin'.
There are many other ways clubs can effectively practise consultation.
Children's meetings are popular (see 'Children's Voices' Out of School, October 2001). Suggestion boxes are also easily introduced and are a great way to record a sudden inspiration for an activity that occurs outside of a planning session, or a gentle way for a shy child to contribute.
Miranda Walker can be contacted at the Playtime Out of School Club on 01884 38039. Besides running the club she is also proprietor of a nursery and works as both an early years and playwork tutor.
