Recycle and Play
Did you know that children will play with absolutely anything? Do you remember your childhood days playing with a set of steel pans and a wooden spoon? This may have been your first attempt at making your own music, exploring different materials and finding out things you didn’t already know about shape, texture, noise, impact, force, vibration, energy. The more you played and experimented the more you learned.
Playing is learning and learning is about exploring and having fun. The more objects a child comes into contact with and can use for play, the more learning they are exposed to.
Children therefore need to play with lots and lots of items.
Non-conventional play items are called loose parts. These items are used for imaginative play and bring endless hours of fun to children. Very often the items adults think are no use become the most popular loose part and bring laughter, excitement, curiosity and joy to a child’s world.
Schools often find the sourcing of loose parts time consuming. Contacting local businesses, making connections, arranging transportation and identifying suitable items for playtime can prove difficult.
This is where we come in! If you are a business and have suitable loose parts which you can provide free of charge to local schools, please get in touch. We would love to hear from you and can connect you with a local school.
Businesses building a better future
Collaborate with us and collectively we can create a better future, not just for the environment, but for the health and wellbeing of our children too.
Whether you are a business, parent, volunteer or work for a local authority, you can support local schools to improve children’s lives through the power of play.
Today's Children Are the Adults of the Next Generation
We need engineers, scientists, artists, and within every workplace occupation, a varied set of skills are required. The greater set of affordances we provide for children at a young age will provoke curiosity exploration and help develop creativity.
Take a look at the magical creations which have been designed by primary school children using loose parts.
The Racing Car
Tyres and bread crates
The Village Pallets
Sheets, tarps and soft furnishings
A Bank Of Loose Parts
Local Authorities
Businesses supporting schools
Are you looking for a way you can make a difference to the community, the planet and your business? When you support a local school, you will:
Support Environment Sustainability
Enhance your business’ reputation
Build customer loyalty
Develop ethical practices that staff value and are excited to support
We have hundreds of schools across the North East that are strapped for cash and need a hand to improve their playtimes. This involves developing their grounds and sourcing resources.
Where We Work
- Darlington
- Durham
- Gateshead
- Hartlepool
- Middlesbrough
- Newcastle-upon-Tyne
- Northumberland
- North Tyneside
- Redcar and Cleveland
- South Tyneside
- Stockton
- Cumbria
- Sunderland
Ways Your Business Can Help
Staff Volunteer Days
Schools are always looking for ways to develop their grounds to maximise play. A staff volunteering day could include:
- Digging out a sandpit or digging area
- Erecting storage for loose parts or wellies
- Building a mud kitchen or a stage
- Painting and refurbishing areas or resources
- Maintaining/checking wheeled play items
- Developing beds for planting and play
- Erecting and moving fences
- Creating new paths and sensory areas
- Building tables, seating areas or music walls
Providing Resources
Business waste materials such as cardboard tubes, blue barrels, paper, fake grass, road signs, paint brushes, cable reels, keyboards, suitcases, guttering, netting, road signs, wood, storage… just about anything can be used for play!
Or maybe your business can provide grounds materials such as sand, soil, and aggregates?
Delivery to a School
Business waste materials such as cardboard tubes, blue barrels, paper, fake grass, road signs, paint brushes, cable reels, keyboards, suitcases, guttering, netting, road signs, wood, storage… just about anything can be used for play!
Or maybe your business can provide grounds materials such as sand, soil, and aggregates?
Sponsor a School
Could your business provide funding for a school’s play development programme?
Playful Schools has a number of applications from schools who are actively seeking financial support to develop their playtimes. Please complete the attached form if you are a business who can offer funding to a local school.
If you have any questions, please contact us using our form!
Our Partnership with SUEZ
SUEZ recycling and recovery UK employs over 5,600 people, operating across hundreds of sites.
