Creative thinking with reclaimed materials

By their very nature, reclaimed materials invite close investigation, stimulate imagination and encourage sensory exploration. When chosen imaginatively, they inspire representation and creative expression, and can extend vocabulary and communication skills. They provide opportunities for children to manipulate materials, seek patterns, make connections and recognise relationships.

Reclaimed materials have no predetermined uses; they can be used to express and develop ideas, thoughts and feelings. Children will spend long periods of time discovering their potential – what they are and what they will do – encouraging them to build on what they already know of the world.

Recycled materials are available through two main routes: from parents, family members and staff, or from a local recycling centre.

Resources from parents/families
The range of resources you can acquire in this way is likely to be fairly limited, although you may well end up with large quantities of particular things. Pay close attention to the Health and Safety Guidelines for your setting, including any specific advice issued by your Local Authority. Also:

• explain to parents why you are asking for recycled materials
• be clear and specific about what you want to collect – large resources for outdoor use as well as smaller items
• think carefully before accepting offers of tools – they are unlikely to be the correct size for children to use safely
• plan where you are going to collect materials so they don’t become either untidy or a safety hazard.

Resources from a recycling centre
The prime advantage of resources from a recycling centre is the range, variety and unique nature of the materials on offer, and the reassurance that the resources will be clean and fit for use. Information on the location of recycling centres can be found on www.childrensscrapstore.co.uk.

The range of resources available from a recycling centre could include:

• Fabric and textiles: fur fabric or fleece; sheepskin off-cuts; lightweight polyester/cotton; nylon; knitted jersey; heavyweight upholstery fabric; rip-stop nylon; hot air balloon fabric.
• Plastics and foam: thin foam sheets; foam building blocks; plastic buckets and trays; large foam skeletons; foam stampers and small shapes; plastic sheets; plastic cotton bobbins.
• Paper and card: cardboard cones; coloured or shiny paper; sheets of labels; A4 folders; marketing company surplus stock; large shop display boards.
• Natural materials: bark; driftwood; shells; seaweed; pine cones.
• Wood: a variety of shapes, sizes, colours and textures from small off cuts of MDF to larger hardwood pieces.
• Ceramics and glass: ceramic tiles for mosaics or tile painting; glass jam jars and bottles.

Practical ideas

• Set out your resources attractively in dividing wooden trays, such as cutlery boxes or inexpensive unusual containers intended for picnics or party ‘nibbles’. Encourage the children to make pictures and patterns without glue by arranging the reclaimed resources on trays, circles of plain fabric, or on place mats.

• Alongside the blocks in the construction area, provide:
  • pipes and tubing – flexible and rigid
  • off-cuts of different types of wood
  • netting
  • planks of wood of different lengths and thicknesses.

• Explore resources on a large scale outdoors – using cardboard boxes, tubing, plastic guttering and drainpipe sections – or find netting or a fence in your setting in which to weave fabrics, plastics, ribbons and natural materials.

• Encourage creative and critical thinking with small world play resources by adding:
  • mirrors or mirror tiles to create the reflective surfaces of ponds, streams or rivers
  • old fashioned wooden ‘dolly’ clothes pegs to add as new characters to play – have lace, ribbons and fabrics available for the children to dress the dollies
  • creative environments for dinosaurs, spacemen or families using lightweight fabric, fancy paper, cellophane, ribbons and small boxes
  • plastic shapes, cones, netting and small off-cuts of wood to make houses, shops, towers and bridges.

• Use a light box or overhead projector to explore the shape, detail and properties of different reclaimed materials. Use dividing trays or attractive boxes next to the overhead projector or light box to display:
  • translucent materials such as plastic shapes and sheets, buttons, cocktail stirrers, Christmas decorations, small plastic and glass containers and bottles
  • opaque materials such as plastic and metal washers, discs, nuts and bolts, lolly sticks, paperclips and coins
  • items with holes in them, such as tea strainers, mesh lids and small strainers will give interesting effects
  • fabrics, scarves, ribbons and lace – these will have different effects when used with an overhead projector, providing exciting opportunities for discussion and language development.

Links with the EYPS Standards: S7,S8, S10, S11,S14,S15,S16, S19,
Links with Ofsted SEF: 3, 4b,,d,e,f, 5i,j

Making the Most of Reclaimed and Natural Materials, Linda Thornton & Pat Brunton, Featherstone Education, 2009

This e-bulletin issue was first published in May 2010

About the author: Linda Thornton and Pat Brunton are early years consultants, trainers and authors and edit Early Years Update. www.alcassociates.co.uk