PHOTOS at Thames Tiddlers Nursery, Woolwich, London Justin Thomas get things wrong and refine in order in refine and wrong things get explore, to space and time the have children where area an providing about are ‘They Eaton. Caroline ant consult work,’ years their early says of ownership greater children give but the principle behind a studio is to nurseries, in opportunities creative appropriately. they But need to be resourced and staffed experiences. stimulating gain and choices make creativity, their to have the time and room to explore S 6 who finds out how four settings are making the most of theirs children and practitioners to be creative, writes Nursery art and craft studios provide a dedicated space for both On form nursery equipment ‘So often you see quite directed directed quite see you often ‘So derful places for children children for places derful won are – ateliers as to referred sometimes – es These dedicated art spac popularity. in growing are nurseries in tudios ART STUDIOS ART spring 2016 - - - tions and values,’ says Dr Ring. expecta our reflect it of use dren’s chil for model a provide that rituals and routines the and it in put we es the environment, the kind of resourc design and How materials. up and set media we art through making meaning- children’s for make they provision the depth in consider to vides an opportunity for practitioners nursery. ‘Creating a studio space pro the throughout happen to want ers practition that learning of types the ter ways of thinking that characterise fos can studio a having believes she setting, the across demonstrated be should creativity that cautions Ring er than create an end product.’ to go deeper into their learning, rath While early years consultant Kathy Annette Rawstrone ------cameras tubing, and use with wire and rubber N A t ursery, children work T hames T iddlers , N ikon every years teacher Rachel Robertson. toddlers too,’ says atelierista and and early We’ve babies for one opened 2012. recently in atelier our up set love with the Reggio Emilia ethos and in fell I it. do and brave be to studio ‘I’d advise anyone wanting to set up a L Nursery in Thames but it should be ordered and organised.’rything, which can be overwhelming, There does not need to be loads of eve scales. of range a on work to able be dren should have a choice of media over,’andchil ‘The MsEaton. envisages support without interfering or taking thereadults to the with independent choice. children I’d expect giving to see childrenabout being all It’s way. tohave an amazing studio straighta the principleembrace and notto think that they need nurseries for tant dren to access and put away. artworkand thatit’sso ‘It’seasyfor chil impor how to display and store art materials to given be to needs thought careful that look stimulating and attractive, so ondon ‘Start by choosing a room, strip strip room, a choosing by ‘Start Studiosshould be inspiring places ­thing out of it and think how the www.nurseryworld.co.uk Tiddlers W oolwich, - - - - - like their easels because they’re on lockable wheels – good for practition- Where to buy er’s backs – and have magnets to hold paper. Children like to work on a large Equipment scale, inspired by Jackson Pollock, so and resources: in some nurseries we have batons to l www.amazon.co.uk hang large canvases and paper. l Consortium ‘We supply a wide range of good- Education, quality creative media such as char- www.education coal, oil pastels and proper clay – we supplies.co.uk avoid the artificial clay ones with l Fafunia, www. fibres – along with different-sized fafuplay.com tools, brushes and rollers, which we l www.hobbycraft. buy from Consortium. co.uk ‘Children’s artwork is kept on built- l www.hope- in shelving or stored in art racks. We education.co.uk also have books and posters, featur- l www.mini-sun.co.uk ing artists such as Matisse and Golds- l www.modroc.com worthy, bought from galleries for the l www.reflectionson children to take inspiration from.’ learning.co.uk l www.seawhite. Little Barn Owls in space works. Don’t make my mistake ‘Light is useful because it draws co.uk/online Horsham, Sussex and buy lots of big furniture, instead focus on an object or can be used to l www.stabilo.com/uk ‘Having an atelier meets our values of keep it minimal until you see how you project and create an immersive digit- l www.tts-group. providing quality time, space and inhabit the space. Our children often al landscape by projecting across the co.uk resources for children to build like working on the floor or standing room, which draws children in with enquiries for themselves,’ says man- at a table so I’ve removed furniture the “wow” factor and retains a sense Furniture: aging director Hayley Peacock. and trimmed the legs on a coffee table of purpose. For example, if children l www.community ‘Currently, children are exploring for children to stand at. Give thought are investigating flowers, they may put playthings.co.uk sea creatures, seaweed and sea caves, to how you want to display the materi- a jug of flowers in the studio, an OHP l www.etsy.com/uk so our atelier, based in a lodge in the als and give value to them. projecting flowers and a light box in l www.ikea.com/gb/ garden, is set up like a cave with the ‘Good-quality materials such as order to look more closely at them. en windows blacked out. There are rocks acrylic paint, watercolours, canvas and ‘We buy Sturdy light boxes from and seaweed to explore and objects to clay are expensive – we source a lot off Fafunia because they are strong, Further make caves out of such as bowls and Amazon – but loose parts are wonder- bright and last for years. We use light readinG crates. Children are designing sea cars ful and can be obtained for little or no panels, such as LightPad from Mini and modelling them out of modroc. cost. We ask parents for items such as Sun, which are portable and have a l In the Spirit of the ‘We’re not afraid to limit the plastic milk-bottle lids, which are great good-quality light, and get the old- Studio: Learning resources on offer, which helps the for construction, and glass jars and fashioned, heavy overhead projectors from the Atelier of children to focus, encourages deeper have recently joined a wonderful local online because we find they are the Reggio Emilia, by learning and experimentation. At the scrap store. I particularly like working safest and don’t overheat. The children Lella Gandini, Lynn moment children have access to a with wire, sourced from the scrap also use a Zoomy wireless hand-held Hill, Louise Cadwell range of colours appropriate to their store and clay in terracotta and grey – microscope, which captures still pho- and Charles Schwall research – eight different greens, five we use Scola, which is non-toxic and tos and videos. It is robust and easy for (Teachers College brown and four versions of white, air drying – because they’re great for the children to handle. Amazon sells Press) grey and black. sculptures and can also be used with them but we got ours a little cheaper l The Language of Art: ‘Ateliers should be resourced with objects such as shells and wood. on eBay, and TTS does an Easi-Scope, Inquiry-Based Studio good-quality graphic materials. Sta- ‘Ateliers are all very different and which is similar.’ Practices in Early ples include chalk, charcoal, water- personal. They don’t take shape until Childhood Settings, colour pencils, colour and black the atelierista [artist] starts working Bright Horizons by Ann Pelo (Redleaf Stabilo fineliners, pastels and HB there with the children. Then they Nurseries Press) pencils – fine and thick graphite all in start to take form and get that lovely ‘If we’re building a new nursery we l Art and Creativity a range of shades. We buy these from lived-in feeling.’ factor in room for a studio because it in Reggio Emilia: TTS, Hobbycraft, source from Ama- gives children a dedicated space to Exploring the Role zon and get higher-grade items, such Reflections Nursery in engage and immerse themselves in art and Potential of as individual sketch pads, specialist Worthing, Sussex projects individually or collaboratively. Ateliers in Early paper and watercolour crayons, from ‘The principle behind our studio is There’s no need to pack their work Childhood Education, Seawhite art suppliers. We have lots that it’s a workshop, lab and art studio, away; they can revisit their creations, by Vea Vecchi of shelving to display the materials, a place where smaller groups of chil- just like professional artists do,’ says (Routledge) rather than hide them in cupboards, dren can do more focused work,’ says director of early years Nicola Amies. and have mixed lovely shelving from director Martin Pace. ‘The room is a ‘We use Community Playthings’ the US, sourced online from Etsy, blank canvas to fill with what the chil- furniture in our studios because it’s with Ikea pieces. dren’s interests are so we only put in designed with children in mind. The ‘Children enter the atelier and the space what is needed to support tables have adjustable legs, clean well become more experimental and the next level of their investigations. and are lovely to look at. Similarly, we expressive. They become artists.’ n

www.nurseryworld.co.uk sPring 2016 nursery Equipment 7