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Environments are important for young children. The first point of contact families have with centres, preschools and schools is the physical environment. Entryways, classrooms, play spaces and the resources used reflect the philosophy of the learning environment and, more importantly, inform about the people who use these spaces. However, the most essential element of any environment for young children is the relationships that occur within these physical spaces. For instance, the cleanest, best resourced and most organised space can feel alienating if the people residing within appear to be unhappy or stressed.
Misconceptions
It is misleading to think that spending a lot of money on resources is the best way to develop a stimulating and rich learning environment for children. Educational catalogues are filled with expensive items while coffee table books often show gorgeous settings with calm, content children – intimidating you to think similar results cannot be achieved in your own space.
However, early childhood educators can be resourceful, and many understand that there are riches to be found in using what you already have on hand. Children love to bring in items from home or holidays and these can form the basis of interesting and satisfying projects and programs.
Last year, for example, we were doing a program on water and had several ideas planned for the week. One day, one of the children arrived at the centre carrying a large cardboard box carefully lined with tissue paper. Inside the box was a large bird's nest that had blown out of a tree during a storm. The nest became a feature of interest for several weeks and generated a whole new stream of investigation. The children admired the nest and used it as a model for drawing, a catalyst for storytelling and a focus for research. We spent time just wondering about the way birds created such strong and beautiful nests. The nest also re-invigorated our interest in the birdlife in our playground.
Being resourceful
Some of the favourite items used by children in our centre are located in an old shelved cupboard with small drawers down one side. The shelves hold an assortment of paper, cardboard pieces and other small recycled off-cuts. The drawers contain pencils, crayons, scissors, hole punchers and masking tape. These materials are available at all times and the children use them to make an endless assortment of items, including letters, invitations, masks, costumes, and small gifts for each other or someone at home. The children are responsible for keeping the cupboard tidy and enjoy finding any new materials that turn up.
Another challenging and enjoyable early childhood activity is box construction, for which families are happy to supply recycled packaging materials from home. Organising these materials into boxes or baskets with similar sized materials, and ensuring that there is plenty of masking tape or glue available to help with the construction work, presents children with the opportunity to be creative and to experiment with different construction techniques.
Indoor space
We don't have a lot of room in our multi-aged setting for displaying items the children have made. However, when a project is in progress, we cover a table or bench with a material, such as tablecloth, and then arrange the items carefully over it to create a special space. We also place photos and notes about the project on the wall behind the table so families can see the work progress from beginning to completion. Sometimes the project itself becomes a play space for the children. We have made large dioramas from recycled materials and paper mache directly onto a table lined with plastic sheeting. We have created prehistoric forests, cityscapes and fairy gardens, and then played with them until they have fallen apart. Before the prehistoric forest was dismantled, we placed a bottle into the cavity of the volcano, filled it with bi-carb soda and then poured in the vinegar to create an exciting, bubbling lava 'explosion' that spewed out and onto the forest below.
Outdoor space
We are lucky to have a playground full of tall eucalypts standing among large rocks that cover a steeply angled rise from the door up to the grassed area, sandpit and playground equipment. The rocky slope is a favourite play space. There are places to hide and the rocks present a variety of challenges for the two- to five-year-old children who clamber over them with skill and authority. We spend a lot of time in the playground and the children are adept at creating games using the natural materials they find. Once we made a fairy disco in the playground by looping string, threaded with shiny paper, tinsel and feathers, around several of the gum trees. A neatly organised collection of twigs in the centre of this cordoned off area marked the place where the fairies gathered each night after we had all gone home. And every day we would find tiny fairy notes stuffed into cracks in the tree bark with messages from the grateful fairy folk who regularly visited. Writing to the fairies and searching for their messages became a delightful and much anticipated daily event.
We also go for long walks around our university-based setting. These walks generate all sorts of discussions. Once we found dozens of shopping trolleys abandoned in and around trees near the student residences. The children were concerned that they had been stolen and were littering the path we wanted to use, so we wrote a letter to the residents expressing our concerns and offering some suggestions about being environmentally responsible.
The most recent playground project began when several children decided to dig their way out. They have now been digging for several days. We talk about the digging and also take photos of the work in progress. The digging team waxes and wanes in numbers and enthusiasm for the project, and sometimes the hole transforms into something completely different. It is hard work that is taken seriously and the children's efforts are respected by all who come to watch them dig.
Conclusion
Using what is at hand is an authentic and respectful way of working with children as it acknowledges their input and interests while recognising the significance of place, the relationships we have to the places we occupy and the people with whom we share these places. Much happens in the local settings where early childhood education and care is situated, and this should be reflected in the programs in which children are involved. However, the quality of the relationships between community members is most important, regardless of where the early childhood setting is located, what resources it has access to, or what programming style it follows.
Carmel Richardson
Associate Lecturer Early Childhood
University of Canberra
Every Child magazine – vol. 15 no. 3, 2009, p. 10
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