Inspirations for the research 3 - REMIDA

Treasure Baskets and heuristic play are great examples of uses of reclaimed resources from the UK (see our 18th September post below). We are also interested in work with varied and multi-sensory materials in the famous preschools of  Reggio Emilia; places where materials and media of different kinds are seen as potential ‘languages’ through which children can express their ideas and understandings. This view of children as capable thinkers with many means of communication is expressed in Loris Malaguzzi’s poem 'The Hundred Languages of Children'. In the city REMIDA (translated as King Midas) is a creative recycling centre where teachers and members of the community can access materials and children can work with artists to turn unwanted items into treasures.

A wonderful book that describes a similar approach, in a US classroom, is Beautiful Stuff: Learning with Found Materials written by Cathy Weisman Topal and Lella Gandini. They document a project where young children were each given a paper bag and asked to go home and fill it with items for the studio area in their classroom. The children collected broken jewellery and watches, ribbons, feathers and all manner of recycled bits and pieces from home. They then sorted, ordered and explored the materials and used their discoveries to create a variety of images and objects. The book has sparked projects in many other early childhood classrooms. You can see inspirational examples, with beautiful photographs, in the blog Transforming our Learning Environment into a Space of Possibilities .