It's all about the play

Our unique holiday club is run from the Deben Community Farm in Melton, Suffolk.  Our ethos is that play should be 'freely chosen and self directed' in accordance with the Playwork Principles (Playwork Principles Scrutiny Group, Cardiff 2005) and focus around loose parts play.  With a 3 acre site and a large woodland the opportunities are endless!

The theory of ‘loose parts’

‘Loose parts’ is not a new idea. Loose parts are open-ended materials such as boxes, crates, sheets, pipes, log rounds, buckets, blocks and rocks that children can adapt, move, design and transform in many different ways. They can be moved, combined, redesigned, lined up, taken apart and put back together in multiple ways.

The value of open-ended, child-led play experiences was recognised by the early child development pioneers, including Froebel, Piaget and Montessori. It is a strong feature of the Reggio Emilia approach and has increased in popularity through the influence of the more recent Curiosity Approach and Hygge in the Early Years programmes.

The ‘Theory of Loose Parts’ was originally proposed by architect, Simon Nicholson, in a journal article in 1971 which stated,

‘’Children love to interact with variables, such as materials and shapes; smells and other physical phenomena, such as electricity, magnetism and gravity; media such as gases and fluids; sounds, music, motion; chemical interactions, cooking and fire; and other humans, and animals, plants, words, concepts and ideas. With all these things all children love to play, experiment, discover and invent and have fun. All these things have one thing in common, which is variables or ‘loose parts…

Activities

These are just some of the activities that take place at the holiday club:

Bushcraft

Bug hunts

Crafts

Woodwork

Gardening

Den building

and of course LOTS of free play

Special days

In the summer holidays we arrange special days such trips out to other locations eg

Walberswick (crabbing, sandcastles and beach picnic) 

Forest Adventure in Rendlesham Forest (den building and orienteering)

Day of Summer Fun (circus skills, water play, workshops)

Sessions and costs

Half day (8am to 1pm or 1pm to 6pm)  £26

Full day (8am to 6pm)  £39.50 1st child £35.50 siblings

NB there may be a small additional charge to cover transport on trips.

Bookings are now being taken for:

Summer 2024 (22 July-23 August)

October Half Term 2024