There are potentially so many different play opportunities for children in your setting. Kindling encourages the recognition that the capacity for children and young people’s positive development will be enhanced if they are given access to the broadest range of environments and play opportunities. Kindling can support your team to deliver this.
View the Quality Play Development Gallery.
Broadening the ‘Play Menu’ is about your play setting offering exciting, challenging, different play opportunities. Kindling will support you through hands on experience that builds on the good practice that already takes place in your setting. The ‘Play Menu’ is based on Bob Hughes’ “Taxonomy of Play Types” and the playwork quality assessment tool “the First Claim” and the EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage guidance).
It is a way of working with staff, volunteers and the children to increase everyone’s confidence.
The process begins with a consultation with the children and young people. Based on this we plan a series of three or more practical play sessions with the whole setting, staff and children.
This is followed by a final session with just the staff team to reflect on what they have done and how they could carry on in the future.
Play Menu activities can include:
- Den building
- Playing with a sense of identity
- Wild play – playing in nature
- Elemental play – incorporating any one of Earth, Water, Fire or Air
- Building: construction and using tools and loose parts
- Playing with the senses
- Creative, messy play
- …..or the things the children in your setting come up with
Each of these is a springboard; with the support of an experienced practitioner the children and staff can decide how to interpret the idea within your environment and policies.
At the end of the process your team will develop an action plan of what your setting can do next.
Before each training session there is the opportunity for one or two key members of the team (e.g. play leader, manager, senior playworker, Foundation Stage Leader, Nursery Manager or supervisor) to meet or talk with our practitioner to examine what your settings needs are.
What Kindling will provide:
- Enthusiastic and experienced practitioner/playworker/trainer
- Pre-meeting and sessions planned for your settings needs
- Interesting and challenging play sessions
- Full risk assessments
- Handouts and information relevant to the play opportunities and signposting to further information
- Training mapped to the common core
The resources for each session will be provided by Kindling, however your setting has the option to buy all the resources used either before or after the sessions have taken place. Please feel free to discuss this at any stage.
Quality Playwork involves offering children choice. Not all the children will be expected to take part in the opportunities all of the time but they will be encouraged to get involved and extend the opportunities to meet their own play needs.
Times will be arranged to fit your group. To discuss your settings requirements with Kindling please feel free to get in touch.
