Wrapping

The wrapping continues, this time with cling film. It's interesting when I think about the types of play that happen again and again at The Shop of Possibilities - wrapping or tying people up crops up frequently. It got me thinking about patterns of behaviour and interests developed in childhood and whether we ever really grow out of them. With the kids I see at The Shop of Possibilities regularly, the person being wrapped up is nearly always a willing participant, so the wrapping and the being wrapped are seen as equally fun (or perhaps even comforting). On this occasion everyone wanted a go...

Barricade

So what do you do as a group of children when one of you decides to be REALLY noisy? Well this group decided to get him outside and then barricade the door closed!

Ben realises that the metal bin lids make A LOT of noise when they are bashed together. It is safe to say that the other children didn't really like this...

So when he was outside, they decided to keep it that way and pile up furniture in front of the door to stop him getting back in.

But it didn't work!

They needed more stuff...

So they piled chairs on top of tables on top of buckets on top of washing lines...

Anything they could get their hands on...

Including themselves...

So what do you do if you are Ben? You play their game! Trolleys, wood, tyres and the shops shutter all stop the children from getting outside.

It stops being about noise now, and it's not even clear who wants to be inside and who wants to be outside (we have a back door which staff have a key for and we were letting kids in and out when they wanted to disrupt the ones outside) it becomes a frantic game of trying to keep people out, or in, and sometimes they are all in and sometimes all out.

But it's not easy to get out through the main door...

Although a couple of children certainly did manage it!

This was such a fun, loud, chaotic, unpredictable session, with so many instructions and challenges being shouted between all the children. The space inside was turned upside down in the process and what started as a group trying to keep one child at bay became a game where everyone was involved and invested in the way it progressed. It was really fun to watch!

Playday 2015

Playday this year was FUN! We grabbed tyres, rope, netting, buckets and a slackline from the Shop of Possibilities and headed over to the green on Sceaux Gardens which has lots of amazing old trees - perfect for tree swings and climbing!

We started off on familiar ground with a good old tyre swing on our favourite tree...

But then moved onto the slack line, something we previously used as part of artist Lily Keal's sessions on Elmington estate, but the kids from The Shop of Possibilities hadn't tried it before...

We spread out across the space and set up more swings, and started working on a zip line...

The children starting trying out the slack line. Turns out it was pretty tricky! But they helped each other to get from one side to the other...

 

And tried to make it more 'risky'...

We also made a bucket swing...

 And a bucket zip line (thanks to playworker Josh's engineering skills!)

Then playworkers Cassandra and Josh helped the children to make a giant hammock. Here's what happened in Cassandra's words:

It all started off with Haddy (7) lying on a cushion that was over some thick rope that was tied around two trees to make a zip wire. Haddy then said “I want to make one of those things you lay on” so I said “What? A hammock?” and she said “YEAH” with so much excitement! So she went off to get the materials she needed to make her giant hammock.

 

She asked Josh to tie it around the trees but he was not quite tall enough to reach, so as a result, he lifted Haddy on to his shoulders to get the materials over the trees for him to tie it.

Once the hammock was made Haddy was happy with the end result and she was the first to try the hammock, but she then let other children have a go afterwards. In the end Haddy went off and Uche was in the hammock and Josh even got in with him! I started to push the both of them which, was a bit tricky at first but then I found an easier way of pushing both of them in the giant hammock which worked out well!

Such a fun afternoon! What did you all get up to for Playday?

To find out more about Playday, head over to their website

Bamboo Tents

Big, bright, bold bamboo tents on Pelican estate!

Tying Up

Wrapping and tying people up seems to never get boring. Usually with tape, this time wool (with a little bit of tape) was used, and I particularly enjoyed the little chant that happened while the kids were wrapping each other up. Scroll down to the video clip to hear it.