Equipment for Play based learning

This time last year, I was focused on starting a play based learning community.   Today I am thinking about several schools in Gisborne and many others around New Zealand who are starting 2016 with play based learning.  Some of you will have large budgets, but many will not.  This post is all about how I set up the environment when I began.

"If children are going to play, they will need something to play with" I thought.   This meant thinking about the environment in the classroom.  Initially, all I could think about were the beautiful, inspiring environments often found in Early Childhood Centres in New Zealand.  These environments include designer equipment for water play, carpentry, family corners etc. Beautiful areas of inspiration built up over many years, budgeted for, supporting a play based pedagogy.  I didn't have time or money to do this.  I did the next best thing, make a start.

Later on in the year, I realised that flash equipment was the least priority in setting up a play based classroom. I now think, less is more.  Real is better, raw materials, space and agency priorities. Equipment gathered by or for the students in the context of play and their needs.  Imperfect equipment allows for problem solving.

Here is what I started with.

An inside area and an outside area. (The students learnt the boundaries for this)
Dress ups from secondhand shop and own collection.
Lego and Thomas the train set from my son who had finished playing with them.
A set of big blocks that were already at school.  An old water table with a hole in it.
A little oven borrowed from the pre-school next door with second hand kitchen equipment. A second hand doll cot.
Books and puzzles that the school had.  Insect houses, magnifying glasses.
9 IPads

The borrowed oven

Trees had to be cut down at school.  I saved several logs and put them outside the classroom for the children to play with as they see fit.  One day we went looking around the school and found planks.  Adding in some black plastic piping and drain pipe extended the play.

The children arranged the logs and planks to make a seesaw

This is the clay table I had made.  I traced around a piece of log and took the pattern to a local canvas shop.  They made a canvas slip on top that fits neatly around the log.  It cost $80.  Well worth it.  The canvas means the clay doesn't slip around.  The clay is reusable and sustainable.  We trialled play dough, but found it sticks to the carpet etc.

Look closely and you can see the design of the canvas top

During the year we used another tree stump as the carpentry table and placed it outside.

Our water trough with the plug missing, allows students to experiment with finding ways of filling it along with observing the nature of water and who to contain it.

I bought.

Some plastic dolls, art supplies, plastic food, model wooden cars, skipping ropes, balls, a cash register.  Clipboards of varying sizes to attach pens and paper to support writing.  A secondhand marble run (very popular).  Painting shirts.

We set them up in areas around the room.  Art area, modelling things like blocks, lego, dresses, family corner.  Woodwork and clay outside.  Books in boxes around the room. We had a few tables and chairs, bean bags, lilly pads, a whiteboard table.

If I was starting again,  I wouldn't change anything because the really important thing to remember is the journey and learning as an educator that goes on when anything is introduced into the community. Continuing to observe and ask how each piece helps or hinders the learning through play.  Our equipment is able to be moved, changed, and used by the students.  As teachers we moved things around once a term.  

This year I am looking for real china cups and teapots as the students are interested in tea parties.  Old boxes of all sizes, paper, tinkering stuff for the craft table. I will be buying some more water paints.  Pencils and pens and crayons with three sides (helps with grip).  I am also looking to develop the science equipment.

Most successful items are Lego and blocks. The iPads support everything we do with open ended programmes like book creator and drill and practice type programmes like Reading Eggs.   Best buys were often the unexpected like the little domino dogs from Hospice shop.  These little dogs were in so many imaginative games throughout the year.  I bought them to play dominos with but the students had other ideas.

One of the tiny domino dogs going for a ride.

A domino dog dressed up.

The domino dogs being lined up on the lego boat.  1-1 matching.

Keeping the equipment and materials open ended has been the most successful way of supporting play.