Outdoor play: loose materials

Though it grates against her inner clean freak, Juno Hollyhock concedes that a tidy playground is much improved by a scattering of loose materials...

I am the first person to admit, I do love a bit of tidiness.

This has been the source of mild amusement and, on occasion, extreme irritation on the part of colleagues as I refuse to recognise the importance of a fluid and flexible process in creating, say, a piece of large scale art. Who wouldn’t insist that all brushes should be washed and glue lids replaced between sessions?

I also, I confess, like a tidy playground. A little bit of randomness in the wildlife area is fine; it’s nature, it has a place. But I do like to know what is where and, where possible, who is doing what. I probably need to know why as well…

This is why the concept of loose materials has left me tiptoeing around the edges, seeking therapy in order that I don’t twitch compulsively at the liberal scattering of assorted wood, guttering, tarpaulins, rope, sand, water and chalk – all of which form a necessary and fundamental part of such activity.

Some schools have gone further and brought rocks, blocks, poles, soil and tyres onto the grounds to form the basis for imaginative and creative play and learning.

All of these resources, anathema to my desire for order and method, provide a fantastically playable environment. Children will organise, re-organise, pile, demolish and move huge quantities of this stuff, given half a chance.

A few weeks ago, I watched spellbound as a group of highly excited pupils poured out of a school building to descend upon a pile of such materials. A mix of ages, they had one aim and one aim only. There was a water tap and a sandpit 30 metres away; they were going to find a sure-fire way to connect one to the other.

In minutes, transporting and connecting was under way and a project plan that would put the HS2 developers to shame was in place For reasons not immediately clear, a way station was created for various piles of useful materials. Smaller children acted as ebullient foremen, shouting orders and creating chaos out of order. Apparently just transporting the materials from A to B was far too simple – I am sure there is a good curriculum link in there somewhere.

Those children who love to engage in the repetitive schema that forms an important part of their self-directed play were thoroughly indulged as they lined things up, moved things around, repeated things over and over again and were important cogs in the bigger game.

Soon I was looking at a complex water transportation system worthy of the Roman chaps who spent many hours hemming and hawing over aqueducts (history anyone?). This linked in those who had hitherto been playing in dry sand. Whether or not they wanted to be linked in was a matter of some debate. They were now playing in wet sand, which is a much more interesting and versatile material.
By the end of the session there was a huge amount of what I can only describe as mess. But it was a worthy mess, a learning mess, a playable mess – and it was now time to tidy up.

In a very short space of time, all the materials had been collected up and stored in a shed with low level hooks, rails and shelves intended for this very purpose. Nominated ‘shed guardians’ ensured there was no foul play and very soon all that remained was the waft of some coloured chalk and the odd smear of damp sand. I learned an important lesson.

Loose materials are a valuable part of a child’s learning and play experience. Allowed to be independent they will create some astonishing activities and will link them to real world events without any prompting or intervention from adults. Yes it is messy while it’s happening; yes it needs good quality storage solutions; and yes there are big pieces of stuff being carted around the playground by small people. But the value is tremendous, these are not bespoke toys that are expensive and have limited application, they are real materials that are massively flexible in terms of how they can be manipulated. They are low or no cost to source, maintain and replace.

The usual rules of playgrounds the world over apply when facilitating loose materials: try your best to be kind and thoughtful to others, take care and say sorry if something goes wrong.

And tidy up after yourself.

About the author

Juno Hollyhock has been executive director at Learning through Landscapes (ltl.org.uk) since 2012, having previously worked as national communications manager at Oasis. She has a broad range of experience in the field of outdoor learning and children’s play.