In order to find out something about how reclaimed resources were used, in early years settings, we recorded short narrative observations of children playing with these materials.
The observations were non-participant and recorded subtly by the visiting researchers during daily free play in each of the four nurseries. It was a great way to capture naturally occurring behaviours. From the children who assented to be observed, and whose parents had given consent, the researchers looked for children who had chosen to play with reclaimed materials and recorded what they did.
There were observations of both adult-led and child-initiated activities, recorded indoors and outdoors, with children of different ages from young babies to four year olds. These included: play with Treasure Baskets and with plastic drink bottles filled with sensory materials; heuristic play; messy play; sand play with recycled cartons and tubes; dressing up; play with old phones; mud kitchens; junk modelling; and creating collages from fabrics.
Like the audit tool (see previous post), the observation methods will benefit from refinement. For a further study we would standardise the approach to observing so that the observation records can be more easily analysed and compared. We have also become interested in observing the features of play with reclaimed materials and making comparisons to play with manufactured toys.
Observation is a topic that Paulette has researched and written about, including two books with colleagues: Child Observation for Learning and Research with Theodora Papatheodorou and Janet Gill; and Observation: Origins and Approaches in Early Childhood with Val Podmore.
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