Sometimes It’s Best To Can The Plan
Structure is overrated – make sure you set aside ample time in your early years setting to simply go with the flow, says Juno Hollyhock…
When I first started out in children’s work type stuff, I used to believe that playscheme and after-school club time had to be strictly organised. I wasn’t comfortable without a timetable attached to every available surface and a clipboard or two with back-up plans, spare games and spontaneous ‘distraction techniques’ close to hand.
Over time, I learned that if managed well, going with the flow was okay sometimes; that it was all right to let the imagination run a bit wild and to see where it led. But still I trembled at the thought of being caught out, of somehow appearing unplanned and disorganised. Okay, this was primarily play and not education – but these things mattered…
Spot check
Then one memorable day, we had a visit from our local Social Services team. It was a spot check – the legacy of a complaint (connected to a small boy and a cup of squash – it’s a long story) that had been long resolved to everyone’s satisfaction, and we weren’t expecting them at all.
It was one of those terrific, balmy days, with wall-to-wall sunshine that didn’t happen very often in summer playscheme history. We’d abandoned all pretence at meaningful activity and had taken some old sheets, a pile of rope and enough clothes pegs to sink a battleship out to the trees and the grassy bank by the sea. We left behind us a tumbleweed-strewn main activity hall carefully laid out with play-dough shapes, biscuit icing, colouring and sticking tables, home corner and junk model-making stations
After an hour or so of comfortable messing around, a veritable village began to emerge. Friendship groups created teepees and homesteads. Sticks were pressed into service as picket fences. Blankets were laid out with packed lunches. Small gardens of seashells and leaves began to grow under clever, concentrated little faces.
There was a little well-mannered controversy over land rights and settlement issues, and some robust discussion regarding the importance of sharing produce, but other than that all was well in our flourishing little community. With no real plan and a total abandonment of timetable, we let the day drift into a smorgasbord of play – a total immersion experience that everyone joined in with. Tribal elders abounded in colourful get-ups from the dressing up box, and the face paints were brought into use to add character.
Breaking the bonds
It was at around this point that a worried-looking administrator popped her head over the fence and advised us that the Social Services Inspection Team had arrived and would like a word. Forgetting for a moment my pink fluffy poncho, pull-on penguin feet, feathery headdress and war paint, I went over for a chat. I showed them the neat layout in the hall, and they perused the day’s register and contact sheets before checking our risk assessments. After some polite conversation and two cups of coffee, they understandably, asked to see the 60-odd children in our care. Somewhat reluctantly, I took them outside…
For the next two hours the children explained what they’d been doing, took their surprise visitors on a tour, fed them exotic meals, showed them how they built their cosy neighbourhood and explained that they’d campaigned successfully to be allowed to leave everything up for the whole week so that they could play longer.
We elders shivered nervously and awaited the disapproving looks and shuffling of registration papers. But no – as they left, the by now slightly sunburnt inspectors were smiling, and I swear one even whooped in response to the cheery goodbye shouts from the children.
They explained that this type of ‘activity with a small “a’’’ was equally as valid as ‘Activities with a big “A’’’; that the children were playing deeply and immersively, and were having a wonderful time; that they were learning so much from being allowed, every now and then, to break the bounds of the timetable.
There is a time and a place for structure, and sometimes we have to adhere to it – but never forget that de-planning some space for evolutionary, loose, relaxed play is absolutely essential.
And yes, I still had the penguin feet on as they left…
Juno Hollyhock is Executive Director of Learning Through Landscapes, a UK charity dedicated to enhancing outdoor learning and play for children; for more information, visit ltl.org.uk or follow @ltl_outdoors
