Imagination

Scribbles's whole ethos is based on fostering imagination. In this world of electronic gadgets certain skills are being lost as life becomes more automated and routine. I recently did a little test with the staff here. I asked them to close their eyes and gave them two objects, a plastic cup and a cardboard tube. All of them focused on the tube. The cup was a cup, and it poured. The cardboard tube however, was a telescope, a walking stick, something to roll something down, you can cut it up into rings and put them over things. The possibilities were endless. Just with a little thought we can realise how important this kind of play is, and it costs nothing. Developing imagination is the start of their education, getting the children to think critically is a major step towards many other beneficial things. We are investing a lot of money into the theory of loose parts, first proposed in the 1970's to get the children to learn through play and learn in many different ways, loose parts play can be anything, buttons, corks, milk crates, boxes, bottle lids. The more you get into loose parts play, the more you see the endless options around you, and most are free. Nature provides many things: pine cones, sticks, stones, shells, leaves. So we will be scouring charity shops and forests for all the treasures we can find. We may be asking for some assistance from you all as well, so if you get requests for some strange things these next few weeks, just bear with us and any donations would be appreciated.

Kindest regards,

Lesley