if it were 31 October and I said we were going to look at some activities involving bed sheets, no doubt the images conjured in your mind would be children running about dressed as spooks and ghouls. This, I suspect, would be followed with a more traditional use for the bed sheet, namely sleep.
However, the humble bed sheet has many uses within children's play and here we are going to explore some of them - there's no time for snoozing!
Den building
You will need:
* One (maybe more) large bed sheets , String or rope , Furniture or fixed equipment if indoors , Fixed equipment or tree if outdoors
Den building can be either a simple constructive process or highly complex, depending on the need and capacity of the players. Bed sheets are an ideal resource for construction.
The playworker's role in this will mostly be the provision of resources, but they may also occasionally be asked to help construct parts of the den, particularly those that children cannot reach. On rare occasions you may even be invited inside.
Arts and crafts
Clothing
You will need:
* A large selection of bed sheets (preferably white) , Tie dye , Fabric pens or paints , Sewing machine , Scissors , Needles, pins and thread , Ribbon, lace or buttons , Selection of magazines
Sheets are perfect for budding fashion designers to create outfits for a performance, fashion show or just for the fun of it. They are also great for experimenting with design and patterns before making the final outfit from more expensive fabrics.
Having dyes, pens and paints available enables children to personalise their designs, perhaps with logos, symbols, names, or patterns. Outfits can also be jazzed-up by sewing on ribbons, lace or buttons.
Pictures from fashion magazines or newspapers can be used for inspiration.
Banners
You will need:
Selection of sheets (preferably white) , Fabric paints , Fabric pens , Bamboo sticks (or similar)
Children and young people regularly display that they belong to a particular group, like supporting a favourite football team or following a band. Making flags and banners enables them to extend these natural traits.
Banner-making is a useful activity for enabling group participation - the banner then becomes the ownership and representation of the group in some pictorial or symbolic way. You could suggest making a club banner to be used on outings or if you set up a stall. When not in use it would brighten up your meeting place.
Decorate the sheet as desired - leaving room at the sides to secure to the bamboo sticks.
Extension activity: Children could also make their own flags, maybe decorated with their personal coat of arms, inspired by their favourite colours, activities, television programmes, etc.
Games
Climbing on the bed
You will need:
One very large sheet (version one) , Ten (or more) large sheets (version two)
This game can be played in two ways:
1 Have a large group of children holding on to the edges of a sheet and stretching it out like a 'trampoline'. Children take turns to climb across the sheet without the group letting go, and without the sheet touching the floor.
2 Roll ten (or more) individual sheets up into separate 'strands' and then interlace them. Each player takes hold of the end of a rolled-up sheet to form a square lattice. Players then take it in turns to climb onto the 'lattice sheets' and crawl across without falling off, or without falling through the holes.
The mummy
You will need:
A large sheet , Rope , Stopwatch or clock
A simple game whereby children take it in turns to be wrapped up in a sheet, and possibly tied with rope. They then have a set time to escape.
Start each game with the same number of minutes as there are players. If they escape within the set time they can tag any other player who then becomes the 'mummy', but a minute is taken off the escape time. This continues until all players have been tagged, or it becomes impossible to escape within the diminished time frame - for example, the last player to be 'mummy' would only have one minute to escape.
Philip Waters is a freelance playwork trainer and consultant based in Cornwall
