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This stuff can be really interesting, I did 3/4 of an nvq in playwork before the people hosting the course went bust, gave me a great insight into using structured play as a learning tool and support for other learning. People have a much higher rate of participation in an activity they perceive as fun and are far more responsive and engaged when that delicate balance of strucutred learning and fun is achived.
Clockwise
@clintsmoker
Some of you know me on here (Founding member of the TNRC etc) and some of you don't (my name is Tim, I'm 48 years old and I like to ride bikes). Its time to call on you all for a little bit of help.
I work in Early Years Education with 2-5 yr olds and specialise somewhat in 'play'. I am currently embarking on a business project of which more will be revealed. For the purposes of this thread I don't want to give too much away, not because I think anybody will take my idea but I don't want to influence what I want you to contribute to this thread as it will act as research. Essentially I am looking for forum members to write about your earliest or most significant memories of play. Please feel free to write as much or as little as possible. It will be very beneficial if you could include details of time and place, for example 'building sites in the 1970's. It's an absolute passion of mine and love how play is fundamental to human development and appreciate just how heart warming and interesting each individual's memories of play can be. Those of you with children of your own (you have a wonderful few years ahead of you now Mr Cornelius) will be well aware ( or perhaps not) of the genius of play. To start this off I will post my significant memories of play.
The place is Banbury a small market town in North Oxfordshire. The time ranges from the late 1970's to the mid 1980's. I lived on a new housing estate on the very edge of town. Our back garden literally backed onto farmers fields and the open countryside. I moved to this particular estate when I was six and so did many other families with children ranging from 0-16. for the next ten years the estate I lived on was in close proximity to a new building site with other houses and estates being added to ours. Back in those days building sites were never fenced off at all. First the big earth movers came and scraped the land leaving enormous mounds of earth and rock on the fields. Local children would wait for the builders to leave and then we would take over. When the landscape was mounds of earth that usually entailed climbing steep mud banks, throwing stones down at others and skidding down. Games of 'war' would inevitably be arranged with Germans defending the mound from the Allies. We got to crawl under, climb over and sit on the JCB's and the 'digger dumpers' and pretend to drive them. Soon after the builders would dig the trenches for the foundations and we would take over this new landscape with our choppers and try leaping them by building makeshift ramps. Then as the houses started to take shape the building materials were ours to use withing reason. Bricks, wooden boards, scaffolding boards, plastic sheeting, pallets, nails etc would be used to build dens. Often carted off to nearby fields and woodland for den building also. As the house took shape and became two story affairs wrapped in scaffolding with roofs but no windows or doors, we would chase around inside or high up on the planks, leaping into piles of sand below. We got dirty, we often hurt ourselves but we never wanted to go home in case mum pulled out the TCP.
Ok. Your turn.
None of your anecdotes will be used in presentations or training etc without your permission