Having managed a large investment in resources around the nursery, I found myself immersed in piles of cardboard packaging, and the old adage remains true: more fun is had with the box than with the toys inside them!
As the pre-school gleefully carted away the materials that would join them on a quest to fly to the moon, create a jungle or make washing machines for the home corner, my imagination turned to the less expensively acquired resources of nursery life.
An avid member of a local Craft Bank, we are fortunate to be able to lay our hands on an abundant supply of all kinds of craft materials. What we do not have is an abundant supply of storage to put it all in. This can lead to keenly acquired hauls being stuffed into the most unusual of places, which is conducive to neither free choice for the children, nor tea-making facilities for the staff!
I have set my staff a challenge this month. I have tasked each room with re-establishing the storage facilities in their craft and mark-making areas. With the promise of a prize for the most ingenious and the most creative, I have encouraged the art of looking at things in an unconventional way, seeing the potential of an object rather than assuming its limited use.
To this end I am now seeing some very imaginative uses for everyday items - plant pots to hold different mark-making resources, the more sturdy seed trays being used to hold paper and card, ice-cream tubs for collage materials - all of which can be decorated by the children using the resources that are being held by them. Vegetable racks and shoe storage have been another success story.
By giving the staff in each room both the budgets and the autonomy to get creative in a fun and instantly rewarding way, I have found they have been keen to get behind the project, working as a team. Of course the element of competition has helped too.
I now look forward to trying a similar project in the garden, so if anyone knows of a good source of pallets and crates ...?
