Recycled & Reused Materials
Why is it so important to use recycled and reused materials in our Play/Create/Build classes?
We value process over product. We value open-ended experiences that allow children to explore, design, and connect. Recycled and reused materials provide endless possibilities and potential, and children are naturally drawn to their unique shapes, colors, and textures. Such materials allow children opportunities to experiment with concepts like balance, symmetry, patterns, and one-to-one correspondence and do not dictate what the playing/creating/building should be. Children benefit from the language, risk-taking, and problem-solving that naturally emerge because of these experiences.
By reusing these materials, we also support sustainability and our environment. We model the concepts of recycling, reusing and repurposing, and we gain a better understanding of the amount of waste we produce everyday.
When your children/students join us in a Play/Create/Build class, please make sure they are bringing materials that would have otherwise been thrown out or recycled, and please save the toys, glue, and tape for another time (see Oct. 23, 2021 post) .
“The idea that materials can be moved, carried, combined, designed/redesigned, lined up and taken apart and put back together in multiple ways. These are materials with no specific set of directions that can be used alone or combined with other materials. Environments that have loose parts tend to be more stimulating and engaging than traditional static environments.”