Urban scrap
* Urban scrap is a free and flexible resource that provides open-ended possibilities for children's play.
* It can be carried around the outside area and supports imaginative role play, for example, firefighting, building and house removals.
* Crates are particularly useful, as they can be stacked and used as blocks, so enabling children to create structures to play within.
* Urban scrap needs to be stored as sets, so that the children can select and tidy away as they would with all other resources.
Think carefully before buying wheeled toys:
* Some children choose to do nothing else but ride trikes, limiting their learning opportunities.
* Two-seater bikes still encourage the child with the front seat to be in control. The child behind has a passive role.
* Wheeled trucks of various designs enable co-operative play as children take turns to push, pull and ride. They are also more open-ended and so encourage imaginative role-play, for example, when children organise their peers so as to enable several vehicles to travel in a line. Trikes do not enable this in-depth play.
