Consulting children
The views of children and young people are vital in the creation of a successful play project. We always consult with children before designing play spaces, places and projects and try and test different methods to find those that are the most effective.
For the most part, the world we live in is an adult one, constructed by adult ideals and values. There are very few spaces that can be said to be truly child-orientated. Even the world of gaming and the internet, where children spend a great deal of their free time, are designed and managed by adults. One could even argue that the private world of the child’s imagination is adulterated to some degree by media created by adults.
In a world that is completely adult orientated there needs to be some recognition that children are more than a commodity owned by adults, where as a social group they have their own needs, desires, wishes, dreams and aspirations, and where sometimes they speak their own language. The voice of children and young people is therefore integral to a successful play project.
We use a variety of methods for engaging children and eliciting their views; in most cases we take a playful approach, like creating clay creatures to consult children about their usage of a play area, or ‘questing’ as a means of finding out which parts of a landscape they enjoy the most, or photography as a visual means of capturing successes and failures. We’re also very practical, so if we’re designing a play space, we’ll do that directly with children using natural materials to create miniature versions of the play space. Or we’ll have informal consultations around an open fire while cooking food, or use documentary film making as a tool for presenting children’s stories.
The natural world is probably the one space where childhood is not solely conditioned by adults, so a great deal of our consultation activities take place in wild spaces – here, children’s voices can be unique, individual and collectively vocal.
'Mud between your Toes' aims to connect children and young people to the world they live in - to experience, understand and celebrate their sense of place and purpose in the natural world and in their communities.
Eden is a charity and we need help to fund our work. Making a donation will enable more children and young people to take part in our Mud between your Toes programme.