At Mairtown kindergarten one of
our most highly used and valued resources is our colourful scarfs and circle
capes. The simplicity of these pieces of material allow for so much open-ended
play to take place. At Mairtown we have a real appreciation for loose parts and the dynamic
and creative ways in which they allow children to play with them. These pieces
of fabric are an extension of this theory.
"If you're not familiar with the theory of loose parts it's a very simple concept. It's simply open-ended play with materials that the children can move, adapt, manipulate, and redesign in multiple ways. Loose parts are materials that do not have any specific uses or instructions allowing children to use their imaginations and creativity to create whatever they want." (whereimaginationgrows.com, 2014)
The children utilise their marvellous
imaginations when selecting their scarves to play with. Not a moment goes by
where they aren’t being used. Pretend play is very popular and we often have princess’s parading around, super heroes
taking on baddies, knights going into battle or mums and their babies going
through everyday care routines and tasks. Imaginative play (as spoken about in
previous posts) is such a wonderful vehicle for learning and development. The
children are having fun while exploring important concepts like relationship
building, problem solving, thinking about their worlds in complex ways and
being creative with their ideas and thoughts.
“Imaginative play is also
considered important for the development of children’s cognitive and social
skills with sociodramatic play (the make-believe play with
others) allowing for ideas to be passed around, built onto and understood by
many. Many studies show that
'make-believe strengthens a wide variety of mental abilities, including
sustained attention, memory, logical reasoning, language and literacy skills,
imagination, creativity, understanding emotions, and the ability to reflect on
one’s thinking, inhibit impulses, control one’s own behaviour, and take
another’s perspective” (Berk, 2009, p.237).
The colourful scarves and capes seem to always attract
groups of children. There is oftern discussions around what colours they want to have with their friends. Time is spent selecting specific capes and pieces of fabric
and then they ask for a teacher to adorn them in the scarves. This is often a
very thought-out process; how the scarves are placed on the body – round the
neck, over one shoulder, attached to a pony tail, as a skirt or sash and so on.
These lovely resources are popular with both boys and girls. They create lots
of opportunities for social interaction and often are a way for children to
branch out and create friendships with children who they sometimes would
not usually play with. When playing their pretend and imaginary games together
children are opening themselves up to lots of new learning and ways of thinking
through their social engagements.
Drew & Rankin (2004) state that “by working and playing
together in groups, children learn to appreciate not only their own ideas and
ways of doing things, but also each other’s. A child can learn that others have
interesting methods and ideas that are worth paying attention to and that can
contribute to his or her interests as well.”
Sometimes the capes and scarves
are used to enhance experiences like dancing as they add another element of
drama and delight to the situation. The way in which they move with the
children as they explore and be expressive with dance is just truly beautiful and
adds a real element of something special.
Lots of children transform
themselves into super hero characters. We have the usual Batman and Superman
hero's who come to life, but also an array of made-up hero’s. In these roles the children explore different ways of being expressive
about their knowledge of the world and social justice.
“By definition, superheroes are larger than life,
courageous, powerful, and seemingly able to overcome any obstacle with great
physical prowess while doing great deeds at the same time... It’s no wonder
that many pre-schoolers are drawn to superhero play. Through play they can feel
brave, fearless, in control of their world, outside of ordinary, and just plain
good.” (Butler & Kratz)
We have particular children who
have made getting dressed up in numerous colourful scarfs part of their
settling routines in the morning. I think that by using the scarves and capes
they are giving the children an extra bit of confidence, which in turn supports
them in engaging with the learning environment and their peers in a more comfortable
manner.
The teachers are also fond of using them, especially while interacting with the children and being involved in their pretend play. They are also used on the adults for special occasions, like celebrating their birthdays, honouring their significant achievements or fare-welling them.
The lovely pieces of fabric aren't always 'worn', sometimes they are used to elaborately decorate our learning environment. Children turn them into table cloths, blankets and roofs over a hut.
All in all our colourful scarves
are versatile and create so much joy and wonder in the kindergarten environment.
They are just so beautiful! We highly recommend having them as a resource at your early childhood setting and/or in your homes for your children. We purchase these great resources
from ‘Triple Goddess Dance’. They are New Zealand made, great quality and
ideally priced. Here is the details for the website if you want to have a look
for yourselves, www.triplegoddess.co.nz
or email Tania on tania@triplegoddess.co.nz
Hei konā mai,
Zair
