Recently I
have noticed how many of our children seem to love our clip boards and I
started to reflect on how essential clip boards are to our environment, so much
so, that I can’t even imagine not having any around. There isn’t a day that goes past without the
clip boards being used somewhere and yet they never get much of a mention, they
are not really glamorous, however, they are indeed a very valuable and much
loved resource at kindergarten.
At Mairtown
we love open ended resources and clip boards are just that, an open ended
resource that can be used in many different areas in the kindergarten and for our
children to use to express their own ideas, feelings and thoughts. The teaching team puts a lot of effort and
great thought into our entire environment. There are baskets of clip boards
available not only inside but also the outside environment too, always readily
available with pens, pencils, crayons and paper. It is a wonderful way to encourage and weave
literacy throughout our environment.
“When children have
access to loose parts, it frees their creativity and imagination to change the
world around them in infinite ways. The
more flexible are the materials in their environment, the greater the level of
creativity and inventiveness they express.”
Polly Neill, 2013
When I think
of the clip boards from a child’s perspective, it is no wonder that they are so
well loved as most kindergarten aged children love to transport; that’s moving things
from one part of kindergarten to another as their play unfolds. That is what is so ideal about the clip boards
as they can literally be ‘literacy on the go’ as a child moves around
kindergarten, for example, from the construction area to water play and back
inside to the family corner. I love how
our children don’t seem to mind where they get creative using the clip boards. Early literacy isn’t limited to sitting at a
table and chair with pencil and paper, using clip boards enables children to be
wherever they choose, whether it’s sitting on the log resting the clip board on
their lap or at the playpod equipment sitting in their ‘car’ drawing a map or
lying on the grass drawing.
You can’t use up creativity.
The more you use, the more you have. (Maya Andrews)
On many occasions
I have seen the children carry their clip board around proudly showing their
work to others, or inviting peers to add to their work or play. In a sense, clip boards can become an
essential tool for creating social interactions with other peers, as a way of expressing
their feelings, thoughts and ideas and communicating these through drawing.
When drawing is used as
a tool for communication, children are able to express themselves and make
meaning out of the world around them. Using drawing as a means of communication
helps the process of making ideas, thoughts, and feelings available to others (Adams, 2006).
I believe
the one of the main benefits of having clip boards available is to support
children with their early writing development, I don’t mean this as a time of
learning how to write the alphabet, I view it as an important opportunity for
children to learn how to make marks and representation on paper. It is about providing children, through their
play, with opportunities to encourage early literacy. For instance this could include; drawing plans, signs, maps, letters,
counting down crossings, lists, and tickets.
If children are to begin to see themselves as writers it is
essential that we provide them with opportunities to role-play and to make
marks and representations on paper. (S Palmer, R Bayley, & B Raban,
2013).
I’m sure
that we all know children learn best when they learn through play. It is when these play experiences have been
woven with early literacy that there are many benefits to our children’s lifelong
learning. So the next time you see a
clip board, hopefully you will think of it as a very valuable resource.
Mā te wā
Susie
