Nursery World - Make shift

Combining objects to create new uses is a crucial part of children's development, and should be as free as possible from adult interference, says Philip Waters Think of 'Steptoe and Son's' yard and it could describe the state of my back garden at the moment. If you were brave enough to venture out there you would find old timbers with rusty nails, a bathtub, bits of tiles, pipes, bricks, and goodness knows what else. And while my partner is probably cringing at the thought of my DIY enthusiasm on renovating the bathroom, my children, and half the neighbourhood's children, are in their element making things from all the junk.

Think of 'Steptoe and Son's' yard and it could describe the state of my back garden at the moment. If you were brave enough to venture out there you would find old timbers with rusty nails, a bathtub, bits of tiles, pipes, bricks, and goodness knows what else. And while my partner is probably cringing at the thought of my DIY enthusiasm on renovating the bathroom, my children, and half the neighbourhood's children, are in their element making things from all the junk.

For the past few weeks they have been making go-karts and other rickety vehicles, but when they came home from school the other day and discovered a bathtub in the garden their play adopted a sailing and Robinson Crusoe theme. What is evident within these play themes is that children bring objects together as they play, creating new usage as a result of the combination - what is theoretically known as combinatorial flexibility.

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