Enabling Environments: Recycled Materials - Scrap it!

The scene is a busy, bustling playground and all the children are engrossed in their play. A tube becomes a horse, wheels are laid next to circular metal tubs to create a bus and blue strips of foam double as oars and waves as children row out to sea. Adding novelty alongside the tubing, netting and unwanted keyboards are a sequined top hat, a Viking helmet and a bunny mask. There's plenty of experimentation going on, as children roll balls down tubes and create a frame for a den.

These are just some of the snapshots of play captured at two early years settings in Bristol as they trialled PlayPods from local social enterprise Children's Scrapstore. A pod is now in place at Henbury Court Children's Centre in Bristol, and it is bringing many benefits.

Daycare manager at the centre Haley Mogg says, 'It offers children interesting opportunities and gives parents a new insight into play. It allows children to use their imagination and be creative and to take the lead in their play while adults scaffold their learning.'

The PlayPod is a resource package. The pod itself is a large walk-in toy box filled with donated scrap and clean waste that businesses routinely throw away. Along with the staples such as carpet tiles, cable rolls, bread trays and old tyres comes a selection of unwanted equipment such as keyboards, headphones and telephones, as well as dressing-up clothes and other role-play items such as steering wheels.

In addition, the package includes training and mentoring, consultancy and support, and regular replenishments of resources throughout the year. Initial costs, including building the pod structure and training, start at about £2,000-£5,000, with yearly replenishments costing £400-£800, depending on the size of the setting.

CLEAR PROGRESSION

The early years pod grew out of the primary school version, which was piloted in nine schools and is now used in some 110 around the UK. Each of the pilot schools was given a pod for 12 weeks and the independent evaluation of the project, financed by the Big Lottery Fund Playful Ideas programme, recorded a clear progression in the transformation of children's play during lunchtimes and playtimes.

At the outset of the pilot, school staff generally viewed these times of the day as boring and problematic. But the report, PlayPods in Schools, notes that after the pod was introduced, rough and tumble increased initially in some schools then 'suddenly stopped and more complex forms of play involving construction, co-operation and pretence began'.

Adult attitudes were also transformed, from concern about the unstructured nature of the play to realising that 'it was the unstructured element of the materials that was the catalyst'.

One of the schools with a PlayPod is Ledbury Primary School in Herefordshire. Headteacher Julie Rees points to a huge range of benefits from the resource, which she says:

• strengthens relations between children, both young and old, and those with special educational needs - 'The PlayPod helps to break down barriers. It is proving a resource for everyone'

• builds children's self-confidence and self-esteem - 'When they're playing with the PlayPod material you can see everyone feels empowered to follow their own interests'

• improves children's ability to take risks and make their own judgements

• fires children's imagination and creativity - 'This has an impact in the classroom, as they're coming in from lunchtime ready to learn and much more open to being creative.

'And,' she concludes, 'there's a real "hidden curriculum" behind it. There's a huge impact on learning, particularly in terms of science and physics or design and technology.'

To that list of benefits, PlayPods manager Kirsty Wilson adds communication skills and problem-solving. She explains, 'When playing with "loose parts", children talk and interact more with their peers and adults, and when they have uninterrupted time, their play becomes more cognitively and socially demanding, requiring negotiation, turn-taking and problem-solving. The moment the den collapses after too many children try to squeeze inside often causes the loudest giggles and the biggest learning curve to create something bigger, better and sturdier next time.'

The challenges often require physical strength too. 'The resources encourage vigorous movement,' she adds, 'as pulling a bread basket across a play space involves using a wide variety of muscle movements, co-ordination, strength and endurance.'

Children's Scrapstore is now actively promoting its EYFS version, which is slightly smaller, both in the size of the structure and in its resources.

Ms Wilson says, 'All of its resources are carefully thought through to ensure they enhance play and are specifically designed for younger children. For example, it provides role-play props, such as hats and bags, as younger children often struggle to put on dressing-up clothes independently.'

PLAY VALUE

The first early years setting to install a PlayPod was Henbury Court's sister centre, Brentry and Henbury Children's Centre. Its PlayPod gained a mention in its 2011 outstanding Ofsted report, which notes: 'Children's imaginative skills are meticulously promoted through the use of a "PlayPod", which encourages children to use a range of resources inventively.' Environmentally, PlayPods are also a success. Scrapstore has now diverted 60 tons of waste from landfill.

Ultimately, it is the open-ended nature of the resources that is so important. Ms Wilson explains, 'The more flexibility in an object, the more play value it has for a child. Children look at everyday objects in different ways to adults and can place great value on them. A cable reel can become a chariot, for example, mop heads work as wigs and the body of a Henry hoover with rope tied can become a super spinning flying machine.'

MORE INFORMATION

• For more information, including the evaluation report, visit: www.childrensscrapstore.co.uk or contact the Play Team on 0117 914 3002 or email playpods@childrens scrapstore.co.uk

• To see the pod in action, visit: www.youtube.com/watch?v=laFA9QqPP14.