Tag: play scarves

Not just a piece of silk

~ storykate ~ Leave a comment

“Hey educators, imagine scarves as your super versatile play buddies! They’re like these magic cloths that can turn into anything children’s brains can think of. 🌈✨

Picture this: you hand a child a scarf, and suddenly it’s not just a piece of fabric. It’s a superhero’s cape, a cozy tent, or even a fluttering butterfly. It’s like giving them a ticket to their own creative wonderland!

And guess what? These scarves are like the ultimate sidekicks for learning too. Children can learn colours by playing colour-match games with ’em, dancing their hearts out, or even practising sharing and teamwork when they play together.

Now, you might think, ‘Wait, why not just give ’em a toy that’s all figured out?’ Well, it’s like giving them a colouring book versus a blank canvas. With scarves, there’s no rulebook. Children get to make their own stories, like mini directors of their playtime movies.

Plus, scarves play nice with everyone, from the littlest toddlers to the bigger kids. And it’s not just fun – it’s learning in disguise. They pick up things like how things move, how colours go together, and even how to share their crazy scarf adventures with friends.

So next time you see a bunch of scarves, remember – they’re not just pieces of cloth. They’re tickets to a world where imagination rules and learning is like a fun game you never want to stop playing. 🎈🌟”

Kate👩‍🦰

Silk scarves, play silks as open-ended materials and loose parts.

~ storykate ~ Leave a comment

My practice as a teacher suggests, that children are drawn to play with scarves, whether they are made of organza or silk.
There are many reasons for this attraction.

  • Scarves are open-ended. Children like open-ended materials, as they can do whatever they want with them. Open-ended materials encourage creative play and the use of imagination. A silk scarf can become a superhero cape, a blindfold, a bandage, a tale, or a set of butterfly wings. Scarves are used by children to decorate trees, wrap a baby and make a swing. They are versatile and amazing. For inspiration, look at how children are using Sarah’s silks here https://youtu.be/QXLZ21PJeHM
  • Scarves are sensory appealing. Any texture may be new for a baby, but children of all ages are drawn to the unique soft texture of the silk scarves. I once observed a group of preschoolers going to sleep, while holding onto Sarah’s silks, while I created a soft breeze by waving the rainbow scarf. Many of the children fell asleep, due to the soothing nature of the activity.
  • Scarves are colourful. Yes, scarves come in different colours – from the primary bright colour to the more deemed neutral palette. I have more than 50 scarves and this range of colours is an attraction by itself.
  • Scarves are enriching music, dancing and movement play. For example, scarves can be used in the dance of Sugarplum Fairy, for the Flight of the Bumble Bees, and for more structured action songs, such as “Up and down, turn around”.
  • Scarves are helping children to use of the schemes of cognition (thinking), as described by Jean Piaget. The Scheme is called Enveloping and I observed it when toddlers were putting scarves on their trucks, around their favourite plush toys, when they wrap the scarves in layers around their waist when they filled the boxes and baskets with scarves and wrapped their dolls in scarves as blankets. When playing with scarves, children wonder what happens if they wrap or hide an object. Will I still see the object? Is it still there when I unwrap it?
  • Scarves are great for the development of fine motor skills, e.g. you can give a baby an empty tissue box and put the scarves inside (make sure they are tied to each other). Watch the baby pulling the scarves out with joy and focus!