PLAY Live sessions have been developed as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as a way to take the Early Years programme online and into people’s homes.

PLAY Live is based on PLAY Studio which, before the gallery closed for COVID-19, ran every Monday and is a studio space where children under 5 and their grown ups can play, create and get messy.

The Theory

PLAY Studio is based around the concept of an Atelier (or art studio) inspired by the educational philosophy of Reggio Emilia which uses a child led, creative approach to learning. PLAY Studio is a space to try out ideas and play with materials. A place where children and adults can get messy, play creatively and follow their own interests. 

In March, when the UK first went into lockdown, we were able to adapt very quickly, and carry on holding space for young children and their grown-ups to be inspired to create art and play.

Using Zoom we invited children under 5 and their grown ups to play, be curious and be creative with simple, everyday things that surround them in their homes.

In this post we reflect on our journey as we jumped feet first into the virtual world of play.

Interaction and community

As Humans we need to feel connection. Lockdown is an isolating time for all of us, but particularly for parents of young children. Using Zoom felt like a good option as it provided the interaction that we felt these sessions and our participants really needed. 

I had my baby in lockdown so I’ve never been to any classes with her. We’ve tried a few online (unsuccessfully) but we both loved today’s session. Loads of ideas to use beyond today too.

PLAY Live parent

An important element of PLAY Studio, when it is at the gallery, is the sense of support and community that the grown ups get from each other when they come together in a group. Seeing, connecting and interacting with other adults, albeit on a screen, seemed to help aliviate some of those feeling of isolation that parents can feel.

We both really enjoyed this morning’s class. It gave me a little hope that things can still feel a little normal during these strange times. I used to take my little boy to lots of classes before the lockdown. I’ve been struggling to find any up and running near where I live so thank you so much.

PLAY Live parent

The numbers attending our PLAY Live sessions have grown since we began back in March. They started with around 60 participants and have grown to an incredible 366 participants in the most recent session.

These high numbers are largely due to the sessions appealing, not only to families, but nurseries and school settings too.

In the session some participants prefer to have their video turned off but there are plenty who choose to keep them on.  We encourage as much interaction between participants as possible. We want to make people feel like they are getting those connections with others that are so essential for our wellbeing. 

“We love joining in these activities at home. It feels like lots of us are doing it ‘together’ even though we are apart”

PLAY Live parent

Children seem to just enjoy watching other children mucking about in their individual windows on the monitor.

Annabel Newfield, PLAY Live practitioner

Zoom

We’re learning more and more about what Zoom can offer. We’ve found the spotlight function is a great tool for interaction and sharing

“Sometimes I spotlight the movements the children are doing, for example rolling around on the floor and I comment on how well they are doing.  Other times I have spotlighted children while they are doing activities like drawing, and weaving.”

Annabel Newfield, PLAY Live practitioner

The spotlight function allows a minute of ‘fame’ as children (and adults) love to see themselves on the screen and it acts as positive enforcement and increases confidence. It also creates a feeling of togetherness, that you are doing an activity alongside others and not in isolation.

It was lovely to see children smile and recognise themselves big on the screen, their little time to shine!

Caroline Rowlands, Attenborough Arts Centre

Music 

Before the session begins it can sometimes take a good 5-10 minutes from the first person arriving to the last and on Zoom this can sometime feel awkward. We spend the first 5/10 minutes of the session playing background music as people are arriving. This creates a good landing in the space as they potter around.  Some are dancing already!

Music plays a huge part within the session too.

I play music at different tempos throughout the session which supports different energy states.  During the session I’ve found it helpful to repeat the same track that we’d just been moving to, when they are doing the related activity – drawing, weaving, den play etc.  That seems a helpful container that marries the need to ‘run the session’ with ‘give them space to explore and play’.  

Annabel Newfield, PLAY Live practitioner

Materials

The driving force of PLAY Studio is materials. But, how do you re-create something that is so reliant on materials at home?

This was one of the main challenges of PLAY Live as materials are the main ingredient in our Studio sessions. If we’re not providing the art materials then we had to make sure they are simple to get hold of.

In advance of the session we share information about the theme of the session and suggest a few materials to have handy during the PLAY Live sessions. We only ever use simple household items and they are never essential to the session, families can still easily participate without any items at all.

We know that much of young children’s learning is physical so we make sure that these sessions are interactive and lively, embracing and developing children’s physical skills and using their bodies as much as possible.

Each session starts with physical warm up activities, encouraging children to move and more importantly supports the grown-ups to do the moves themselves, get involved and have fun joining in with their children.

The children were captivated and really joined in with the warmup and were hugging, rolling and then pretending to be hedgehogs.

Head Teacher, Larkhill Nursery School

What do the sessions involve?

Every session is inspired by works from the Whitworth’s collection. In each session we share a selection of artworks using the ‘share screen’ function.

Animals

For this session we asked participants to bring along any animal toys they had at home. Using the Whitworth’s collection pieces and their toys as the starting point children and adults came up with ideas for movements and sounds relating to their animals. Children were invited to offer their animals up to screen and the practitioner spotlighted them in turn. 

Let’s say a child is playing with a cuddly bear I might say something like, ‘Ooh can you move like a bear’… I always keep an eye and spot what’s happening in those little boxes to inspire connection and increase interaction. I also invite children to turn on their audio and make animal noises for others to hear. We want the sessions to feel as fun and uninhibited as possible”

Annabel Newfield, PLAY Live practitioner

Drawing with Movement

In another session we combined drawing and movement. We asked participants to collect together anything they could draw on, paper, wallpaper, flattened cardboard boxes and anything they have to make marks with, pens, pencils, felt tips, chalk or crayons.

We shared expressive, abstract drawings and paintings from the Whitworth’s collection on the screen for ideas and played music at different tempos for children and adults to draw along to expressively.

Weaving

In advance of this session we asked participants to collect things together like string, wool and ribbon that could be woven around things.  Again music was played and children and adults were encouraged to weave around their houses; under chairs, round table legs and over the sofa and if they didn’t have weaving materials they could simple use their bodies instead.

Light & Dark

In this one we made dens, created dark spaces and explored light and shadow. We suggested materials to bring along which included large blankets, sheets, torches, fairy lights and shiny items from around house. 

We left out the sheets, lights, lamp and torches and the children have loved continuing to explore since.

Head Teacher, Larkhill Nursery School

Child led

How do you make something truly child led online?

Our early years work at the gallery has always been focused on the process rather than the product. This child-led artistic exploration, trying out ideas and playing with materials is still the principle embedded in our online sessions.  

We don’t want it to be ‘do this now, do this now’…instead there is no wrong. We suggest things, but never expect any child to go along with what we’ve suggested. And if a child is absorbed in one activity then there is no pressure to move onto the next until they are ready. This is always explained at the beginning to grown ups.

Annabel Newfield, PLAY Live practitioner

The PLAY Live sessions rely slightly more on the facilitator. As they happen over a window of only an hour, as opposed to a whole day, we still want to encourage the children to find their own ways to play, inspired by what is modeled over the zoom screen. The practitioner leading the session will always suggest and model, not teach, leaving the space open as to what participants do, and how. 

We loved the open nature of the session. Annabel did a great job of bringing the group together with play suggestions that included the adults too. Then moving into child led play with lots of suggestions for activity and continuation after. It was great to do our own thing but still be able to feel connected to all the other families and groups. 

PLAY Live parent

Even if the children aren’t hugely interested, that doesn’t matter. As we say in the gallery, sometimes children might run off and start enjoying something else.  The play might go off down a different direction but if we’ve in some way inspired that, we’re happy.

And of course the session will hopefully inspire play for other times.

The children had a wonderful time. They are currently still making marks and copying the moves they learnt today, so it has definitely made an impression.

Nursery Manager, Tiddly Winks Nursery

Familiarity

How do you engage children from the start through a screen?

Songs are great way to connect and interact with others, even through a screen. Songs aren’t something we do in the gallery but have felt important to introduce into the online sessions. As participants are arriving all at once, rather than dropping in over a whole day, we felt it was important to have a clear beginning and end. We start with a ‘hello’ song and finish with a ‘goodbye’ song. This provides something that the children are familiar with, settles them into the session and captures their interest from the beginning. It also allows them to understand that the session is coming to an end.

We always offer a bit of time at the end, after the ‘goodbye’ song where people can chat.  There have been very sweet moments of children showing us their moves, toys, and art.  Sometimes they even know other children and say ‘hi’ to them between their little Zoom rectangles.  We’ve had friends and cousins in different homes getting to play ‘together’ through this medium. 

Annabel Newfield, PLAY Live Practitioner

If you would like to try the next PLAY Live then contact lucy.turner@manchester.ac.uk. 

At the time of writing, PLAY Live runs on the first Monday of every month.

These reflections have been co-written by our Early Years Producer, Lucy Turner and our PLAY Live Creative Practitioner, Annabel Newfield.