Visual Play Audit Service

 

Assessing school playgrounds for play value

By Daniel Rees-Jones

There is a growing body of evidence that suggests that the outdoor play space is playing an increasingly important role on children’s development and making children happy with numerous benefits. 

Play helps boost children's language development, problem solving, risk management and independent learning skills, a study reaffirms.  The report, for the Children's Play Policy Forum, found play improved children's physical and mental health, as well as their emotional well-being.  It also found playtime in the school playground could enhance academic skills and attitudes and behaviour.

Source: The Play Return: Areview of the wider impact of play initiatives Gill. T 2014

Whilst the notion of designing play spaces is an exciting prospect it does require knowledge, consideration and sensitivity to the environment as well as a sympathetic awareness of the users.  The Play Team at Children’s Scrapstore have spent the last five years supporting schools with their play, making suggestions about logistics and grounds development. From our observations, schools that have invested in increasing children’s choices for play, seems to have profound effects on how happy children are in school which then in turn has multiple benefits for the entire school community.  

Schools historically tend to develop the play space as and when monies become available which is usually in little pots now and then, which results in playgrounds that are quite piece meal and lack functionality for purpose.  The missing link is a general overview of the entire space both physically and logistically in terms of staff management, which in turn creates stagnant and poor play environments, despite the best intentions. 

The visual play audit service has stemmed from the acknowledgment that schools needed additional support and guidance in the planning and development of their playgrounds. The intention is to offer a non-bias service that helps schools assess the play value of their setting and support decisions in the development of their grounds; maximising on current resources and improving the quality of play opportunities and choices available.

Assessing the ‘play value’ of spaces has been developed by a small number of play theorists and practitioners within the UK over the last decade from a playwork perspective, although this has not permeated through to schools playgrounds.  Two widely accepted and acclaimed frameworks are:

Play Wales' The First Claim ... a framework for playwork quality assessment publication aims to enable playworkers, and any other adults with an interest in children's play, to analyse, by observation and reflection, the play environments they operate. It gives a framework to assess the quality of what is being provided and experienced. 

 

Simply Play is a simple, effective play value assessment which has been developed through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership between Sheffield Hallam University and Timberplay Ltd. The late Professor Perry Else course leader on the Children and Playwork Degree course wrote numerous published papers and has authored a book on “The Value of Play”.  He offered supervision on this project as well as having created the assessment for play value, “Maximising Play Value” on which Simply Play was based. By developing an assessment which focuses on the quality of the play value of a space the aim has been to put the primary purpose for developing play areas back at the heart of their development, namely play. 

 

 

In the initial development of the auditing service we adopted the methodologies above as our benchmark which overall worked well, but after a doing a few assessments during school lunchtimes on reflection we discovered that:

• Flow and playful journey are critically important additions we needed to add into the assessment criteria.
• Larger open spaces needed to be assessed with multi use considerations in mind including curriculum needs such as P.E. or school events.
• Schools commonly have restrictions on the ways that the play spaces can be used, such as rotas for equipment and rules for play.  
• The presentation and feedback of the audit needed to be clear and concise, particularly when considering recommendations.
• The assessments seemed to work best in small team collaborations with time for group reflection which usually required a detailed mapping exercise.

After two years of development we have developed a comprehensive auditing service adapting existing assessment models that enables schools to make considered choices about the development of their school grounds.

The Visual Play Audit Service uses a range of different playground methodologies to assess the ‘play value’ of school playgrounds and other play spaces 

The process involves a mapping exercise identifying what types of play are currently catered for and what the environment affords, as well as identifying what types of play or aspects of environment are missing.  The A3 report outlines possible improvements that could be made to the whole environment that looks at extending the range of choices available to all the children as well as amendments to logistics that would improve the play on offer, using a combination of photographs and text.
We recognize that within the school community there are many user groups so we have worked hard in presenting this document in an easy to understand pictographic format which can be accessed by a wide range of user groups, to support any proposed changes.

“This has been incredibly useful process for us to do, we now understand how to utilise our play space much more effectively and the visual style of the report really brings it to life.”  Head Teacher

The service essentially enables schools to highlight the key components of a good outdoor play environment and suggests how to enhance it, as well as offer a variety of informed, non-bias choices regarding future investments to support children’s play and learning. 

“It gave me a way in to change the outdoor space and get the other stakeholders on board.  By demonstrating the ideas visually through the report I was able to get money and support from the Friends of Whitehall and the School Governors.”  ~ Deputy Head "This audit has really helped us to understand how to go about supporting the play in our school, enabling us to make informed choices for future developments.” ~ Head Teacher Whitehall Primary

 

If you are interested in finding out more about playground development  please contact Scrapstore Play Services or phone 0117 914 3002

Children and Schemas - Understanding Different Play Behaviours

by Claire Sands

Why does he keep taking the blocks and hiding them? Why is she always wrapping things in blankets? Why do our children do the things they do. This blog post explains schemas and why knowing about them can really help us to understand our children's behaviour and to provide play opportunities they'll engage with.

You can also read our other blog posts in this series: What is Play?, The Importance of Play, Barriers to play, The Play Cycle; My Sofa: Enabling Environments, Easy Rider: Risk and Play

A regular Thursday in my house, after being at work for a few days away from my two year old son, usually involves an internal battle between spending quality time with him and getting stuff done around the house. It also usually involves his external battles with me over just about everything. Putting trousers on, having nappies changed, eating breakfast and anything else related to trying to get out of the house! I think it’s his way of communicating that he just wants to be with me but as with all two year olds this doesn’t necessarily come out as sweetness and light! 

On a Thursday I am usually just about ready to drop by about 9.15am. Last Thursday I thought we’d had a break through. I was happily putting away some washing thinking to myself how remarkably well I had managed the morning; we were dressed, fed and I was actually managing to tidy up, all before 9.30am. It was during this moment of smug reflection that I became aware of the most unsettling of sounds… You know the one… Silence!

It’s that moment when you notice that it’s been a little bit too quiet up there for a little bit too long.

Could he just be quietly contemplating his book collection? No chance.

Emptying cupboards in the spare room? More likely but nope, not in there…

Oh no, the bathroom! The room of the house you least want to find your toddler ‘investigating’ - I slowly opened the door and there he was, with one of my brand new trainers perfectly lined up under the tap, poised and ready to fill it up with the next turn.

‘What are you doing?! That’s mummy’s shoe!’

‘Mummy not cross’

‘Yes I am cross, they cost a lot of money!’… Tears

What was he doing that for and why?

I probably could have dealt with that a bit better. I want him to have the freedom to roam around without me but so often he wants to explore the corners of the house that I want him to avoid! And I felt so mean for getting cross. I pondered this little interaction and the many others that have happened over the past month or so. I had made the assumption that he was trying to get my attention by filling up my shoe, but when I really thought about it, this time the signs pointed to something else:

·         He was engaged and concentrating pretty hard on what he was doing

·         He was genuinely startled when he noticed I was there

·         He got really upset when he saw how cross I was (unlike if he were filling my shoe to get my attention when he would most likely laugh hysterically at my attempts to stop him!)

Thankfully my work involves training adults and early years practitioners to support children’s play. Sometimes this means piecing together observations and reflections in order to support children to play in a way that they choose. I spent some time thinking about this little interaction.

• What was he actually trying to do?
• Has he displayed this type of behaviour elsewhere?
• Could this provide a clue?

That was when it hit me…

• Last week he spent an hour putting toy animals in and out of a ‘den’ that he’d made by propping a small cushion up against the sofa arm.
• He gets very upset when bath time comes to an end as he is completely obsessed with moving water from container to container. He likes to get inside things, cupboards, boxes, small gaps.
• He loves watering the plants, but mainly the bit where you fill up the watering can, he could take or leave the actual watering bit.
• Last week he put his Dad’s favourite beanie hat down the loo.
• He is constantly asking ‘what’s in there mummy’.
• He loves just colouring in the eyes of people and animals in colouring books. I thought this was a bit odd but it was all beginning to make sense…

 

He was showing a containment schema.

What’s a schema?

A schema is a pattern of behaviour that a child demonstrates through their play.

This can be seen through their actions, language and interactions with their environment. It’s the way that young children make sense of the world around them and can show you how they are choosing to learn about the world in that particular moment.

There are around 41 different types of schema identified. A few of the most common ones are:

The key is to try and notice patterns across many different situations. If they just do something once, it’s probably not a schema. If you see it happening in different situations across a period of time it might well be one. In my son’s case his is around containment, so putting things inside other things and is being displayed in lots of different ways. But why is this information useful?

• Children articulate their thinking expressively through their actions.
• It could give me an insight into the ideas and concepts he is currently exploring.
• It helps me to fathom out previously unfathomable behaviour!
• It helps me support his play better and introduce resources.

Young children will explore the same concepts such as size, weight, gravity, movement, volume etc whether their schematic preference is putting things inside other things (containment), moving things around (transporting) or exploring the movement of objects and themselves (trajectory) to name a few.

Even if their behaviour seems to be focussed on one particular thing in one particular way they are still learning in a way that is relevant to them and critically, playing in a way that they choose. When we support this behaviour and follow their lead it means they are in control of their play and learning which is powerful stuff! That’s not to say it’s ok to empty Grandad’s wallet into the washing machine and pop it on a spin cycle, but if we try to understand the intention of children’s actions we can think about how we can support it in ways that are perhaps a bit more palatable.

Here is a good example of children demonstrating different schemas within their play using a Scrapstore PlayPod.

Scrapstore Play Services offers a range of Early Years Training courses if you would like to find out more about Schemas or playwork theory.
Phone us on 0117 9143002 

USEFUL TIPS FOR PARENTS

Observing your child(ren):

Sometimes children may display a cluster of different schemas, sometimes they may not show an obvious one at all (and that’s just fine) so they are not the answer to everything! However, they can just help a little bit to understand some of the unfathomable moments of parenting. 

So next time you are scratching your head as to why your 3 year old has covered your 3 month old’s hands and feet in paint, think to yourself:

• Is this a schema – can you think of another time they did something similar?
• Is this so bad?
• Can I reframe this situation so they can paint all over something, just not my precious daughter?!’

Things for you to consider:

• Try to understand the intention of the action in order to make sense of it and support it in a way that is more acceptable to you
• Do the benefits outweigh our annoyance/fear/frustration to just let it happen?
• Could you step back a little, observe and reflect on what you see?
• Be a little calmer when discovering the cat has been wrapped in cling film… again!

Could you provide any resources to support the play?

• sheets and cushions
• move the furniture around to make dens
• go out with a bucket to collect stones and sticks?
• get out the pots, pans and containers that you didn’t mind being played with.
• save tubs from recycling for ‘collectables’.
• Roll up lots of little balls of play dough that could be move from container to container. 

Most importantly try to follow their lead. Play a little bit when you're wanted and, who knows, some of your ideas may spark theirs and some may spark yours!

Good luck!

FURTHER READING:

There are some great leaflets about Schemas that have been produced for parents that help understand this topic a bit better.

 

Easy Rider - Supporting Risk & Challenge in Childrens Play

by Dan Rees Jones

One of the most difficult decision as a parent is deciding on whether the risk is too great for our children, do we stop them from climbing up that tree or do we let them do it and risk injury for what they might learn and discover? How do we assess risk and it's benefits. This blog post from the Parents 4 Play Series will disk risk in play and how we, as parents, can deal with it and embrace the benefits of letting our children take risks. 


You can also read our other blog posts in this series:

The Importance of Play, Barriers to Play, The Play Cycle, My Sofa: Enabling Environments, Easy Rider: Risk and Play, Children and Schemas, The Super Powers of Loose Parts

Giving my son his first ‘real’ bike for his 4th birthday was a mixed bag. It bought a lot of memories back from my BMX childhood; the freedom riding a bike gave me, the wind blowing through my hair, the long summers riding in the back lane and going on adventures, the speed, the homemade jumps, the adrenalin, the language ‘RAD!’, the hear misses, the crashes…

Part of me was really proud and excited for him ‘mastering a skill’ that would enable a sense of freedom and independence that would put him in control of something ultimately fast and exciting and dynamic, but from the first shakey hold and wobble to the local shops, part of me knew that the ‘mastering of this process’ was going to be a journey involving successes and failures, tears and laughter.

A week or so after his birthday we had a good space of free time and some nice-ish weather to do some biking. After watching a couple of videos on YouTube we took the pedals off together and then went to the park to do some gliding down some hills.  So there I was (an image you’ve seen a 1,000 times before) a father running behind a bike on a slope, steadying the saddle and then letting go… In that moment, after letting go, standing there with clenched teeth, observing the event unfold several feelings coursed through me all in an instant…

The parental emotional rollercoaster:

Hope: Go on you can do it 

Satisfaction: As a parent for having got to that point.   

Fear: Please don’t lose control and crash, what will your mum say?

Self-doubt: Was he really ready for this?  It will be my fault if he does crash!

Anxiety: What if I have now put him off for LIFE! 

Mild Nausea: probably as a result of the above.

Why do I want my child to take risks?

“If you worried about falling off the bike, you'd never get on.”

Lance Armstrong                                          www.brainyquote.com

‘NOTHING VENTURED, NOTHING GAINED!’

"You can't get anywhere unless you're willing to take a risk.”

We’ve all heard it because the saying dates back to Chaucer (c. 1374) www.phrases.org.uk

On this initial occasion however, everything went smoothly, resulting in a slightly more confident child and very proud parent feeling relieved but happy that it went well, willing to go on that roller coaster again.  Watching my son take these risks is essentially different from taking risks myself, namely because I have no control over them. This lack of control created these emotions and feelings above.

As a playworker and trainer, I often talk about the comfort zones when it comes to understanding and supporting children taking risks within their play. Although this is widely used as a business model for developing innovation and coping with change, I feel that this model also helps us to understand our emotions whilst supporting risk taking in play.

Here Jeff Culley, president of Healthcare Management Solutions, summarises:

Most people live in their comfort zones, doing what feels familiar. While this is comfortable, no real learning or creativity takes place. When people move into their discomfort zones, they use their courage and begin to act on new possibilities. It is here that exploration and learning begins to take place.  Being aware of our actions, thoughts and feelings outside of our comfort zone helps us to identify our opportunities for learning, growing and changing. Just as it becomes a habit to operate inside of our comfort zone, we can also make a conscious habit to expand our comfort zone.

Over the next few months as my son ‘mastered’ cycling I was seemingly entering a discomfort zone, but this gradually lessened as both of our confidences grew to accommodate the new skill set. Now we regular enjoy mountain biking for hours around the trails in the woods. Those early anxieties a distant memory.

Now… what’s the next challenge?!

here is a an interesting presentation that could lead you and your children in the next direction:

Scrapstore Play Services offers a range of playwork training courses for parents that focus on helping children to take risk in play  

Phone us on 0117 9143002

USEFUL TIPS FOR PARENTS AND CARERS

Things you can consider:

Think back to your childhood and all the risks you took…

·         How risky were they?

·         What did taking that risk enable you to do afterwards?

·         How did you feel before and afterwards?

·         Did you learn anything from taking that risk?

Observing your child(ren):

·     How do you react when your child takes a risk? Consider our blog post ‘The Importance of Play’ and think about what the possible benefits of that taking that risk could be?

·    Your still not comfortable, that’s understandable, so what could you do to build up to this risky play that your child wants to engage in? Are there smaller steps you can take?

FURTHER READING:

Risky Play Prepares Kids for Life, the Guardian:

The Role of Risk in Play and Learning, Community Playthings:

What a pile of autumn leaves tells us about risk, Rethinking Childhood - Tim Gill:

My Sofa - Enabling Environments

A sofa can mainly be distinguished by a relatively high back, armrests, and a seating space that accommodates at least two people and traces its origins back to the 17th century….(www.wisegeek.com).  When I bought my first sofa I was unaware of how attached I would grow of this piece of furniture… A very personal relationship had begun… It was a relatively simple L shaped design, comprising two pieces; one short and the other long like a chaise lounge and instantly became a feature in our lounge. Initially we used it in the way you would expect most folk to… Then we started a family and things changed. The scope and expectations of what this furniture could do for our family became much broader than I could ever imagine... and continues to be a source of fascination for me as we all grow.   

Here are some of the things our sofa does for our family now: 

• The high back provides height to jump off, balance on, generate a different perspective from. 
• A platform to do shows on, parade around and build off. 
• The back and two piece design provide opportunities to post things through and down – Toys sent into the abyss. 
• A safe and special place to retreat too, be ill in, to watch TV on, hide in, read on, to laugh on and cry on. 
• A structure to learn to walk around, lean across, race cars and balls under. 
• A structure to fall off, slip off have accidents on where resilience is built. 
• A communal structure to all be together on.  
• The cushions provide walls that can be used to build shops or dens; draping over material to further this construction.   
• Cushions make obstacles to climb over, stack together creating height, risk and challenge – to explore on.  
• Cushions to throw at each other, good things to crash land onto. .. 
• And finally… When we get round to it... Pulling out the sofa - treasures remembered  

My sofa is no longer a sofa… 

It has morphed with the introduction of young children… It has become an exciting play space or fantasy world that generates a myriad of play possibilities and opportunities for my children and beyond.  

The theory:

Dr Fraser Brown talks about compound flexibility which I think explains this in an academic sense:

Browns theory of compound flexibility offers a view of child development linked to the play environment. It concerns the way in which development takes place via 

‘The interrelationship between a flexible/adaptable environment and the gradual development of flexibility/adaptability in the child. In this theory it is suggested that the degree of flexibility in a child’s play environment has a direct effect on the extent to which exploration and experimentation are possible. Children who experience such things, together with the associated sense of control, will be likely to develop self-confidence, self-acceptance etc. This in turn leads to an ability to cope with daily problems in a more creative, imaginative and flexible way.'   Brown , F (2003)  

 

There are many things within our homes that will engage children within their play which in turn helps them to develop an understanding of their environment. The Scrapstore PlayPod is a great example of how children are creatively engaged in play, problem solving and scientific exploration in many different ways using everyday 'loose parts' to extend their play. This short film shows this in action:

On reflection it’s true to say that I have developed a close working relationship with this sofa and love it dearly – and today even though it’s now a bit dirty and completely the wrong colour for our newly decorated house, it’s become personal!  

FURTHER READING:

Teachers TV -Enabling Environments: A great video that shows enabling environments in Early Years - lots to replicate here
Scrapstore Play Services offers a range of playwork training courses if you would like to find out more about playwork training about playwork theory.

Phone us on 0117 9143002

 
by Dan Rees Jones


USEFUL TIPS FOR PARENTS

Things you can consider:

• What furniture can your children move around or take apart?  
• Are they allowed to explore and experiment with some cupboards or drawers?   

The real challenge is how this play makes us feel inside and what rules and boundaries we set which either extends or limits this.