Filling Buckets and Lighting Fires
Eyres Monsell and Gilmorton Children's Centre
Enquiry question:
What is the impact on children’s learning when creative and early years practitioners and parents work together to create environments rich in possibilities for discovery and creative exploration?
Practitioners helped children, parents and staff transform areas of the centre using only natural and recycled materials. The project had three elements to it: The Enchanted Forest; the "Remember this" project and the Journals project.
Parents and staff were encouraged throughout to document their time at the centre and they noted down what their children were learning each day. Across the projects the children had the freedom to experiment and explore new spaces and resources.
They were able to explore and develop their own ways of learning and discovery. The children were able to interact and cooperate with each other, and adults, in new ways and this has helped them build new relationships and also develop their communications skills.
Project objectives
- Ensure more children enjoy learning;
- Engage parents in their children's learning;
- Improve achievements of children through Early Years Foundation Stage.
Impact
A member of staff at the centre commented:
“Parents have commented on how relaxing and enjoyable the settings are, and we have noticed increased engagement in their children‟s play by parents. Parents have been overheard telling other families to come to Stay and Play because „they do great things.”
A parent commented:
“We hope from our experience other families will become more creative. We can educate families that creativity is not just about paint and paper, it is about imagination and freedom to do the things that we all enjoy. We also put on family activities and know that the group will be as passionate as I am to use the skills and ideas from this project and try things out.”
Results
Since the project the Stay and Play staff have noted increased interaction and "shared thinking" between parents and children as they explored open ended resources.
Communication between children increased as they played together, particularly outdoors in the willow arbours, and in quiet secluded environments indoors. Creative thinking and imagination have been developed through exploration of exciting 'found' resources which have encouraged children to find new descriptive words and functions for items.
Parents have become more communicative and confident, talking and sharing with other parents and children, moving on from customary 'cliques'.
Documentation by parents themselves and in displays in settings has been a powerful tool in helping parents understand what their children are learning. A core group of parents had confidence and creative skills enabling them to develop a creative learning environment in the centre, thinking of exciting ideas, dressing up as characters and inviting other families to an after school event.
Parents became engaged with the practitioner and each other as the sessions progressed. Most parents felt they were able to stay within their comfort zones, taking creative risks and exploring ways of working with unconventional materials in front of each other. Involving new parents would be a positive idea to take forward as it was felt that these are not targeted enough. It was also felt that a member of staff should be supporting/promoting this at the beginning of each session, then to use their own judgement on whether they felt they were needed for the whole duration of the session.
Centre teacher, Sue Boud, noted greater interaction between children and children, children and parents, and parents and parents. The journal-making had helped to develop this.
The project primarily supported children's enjoyment and achievement. The child led approach enable children to make decisions and follow desired patterns of behaviour whilst playing and exploring (schemas). The Filling Buckets and Lighting Fires Project created many opportunities for children to develop language and communication skills and for children to communicate with peers and adults other than their parents this supports 'social and emotional development.'
The project has been short-listed for a Children and Young People Now Award 2010. (Results will be announced late November 2010).
