Children at the Shop of Possibilities are generally very confident in using materials in ways that they weren't intended to be used. By thinking outside the box, the results of these explorations are often much more interesting than if they had used the material or object in the conventional way.
As adults overseeing these types of experiments it is sometimes difficult to weigh up the play related benefits to the children against the 'waste' of the object or materials they are using. There seems to be a bit of an art to this type of decision making which staff are all constantly playing with ourselves. After all, alongside encouraging a sense of creativity and curiosity amongst the children, it is also important that they have some understanding of where these things come from. The Shop itself is based on the idea that a familiar object can always be changed, broken or adjusted to make it into something new and exciting, but you may not be able to make it familiar again!
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