eibe play wows National Childrens Centre and Extended Schools Exhibition in London
This was the largest ever, indoor and outdoor nursery show case
space in Europe. The message was clear, and the visitors to the
show, over 1500 of them, from Children’s Centres and
Nursery Chains from all over the country were buzzing from the
ideas and solutions offered by the working children’s centre
provided by the eibe play team.
eibe play were commissioned to design and create a fully working
children’s centre complete with indoor furniture and a
working example of an outdoor play area. The NCCESS Childrens
Centre covered over 1200 square feet. The idea was to
highlight to centre managers and head teachers the importance
of integrating good quality play provision from the outset and not
as an afterthought.
The area also included a sensory room which was provided by
“The Westminster Children’s Society” The Managing
Director of eibe Play, Paul Redden said “I was
approached in February this year with this idea and asked if
we would like to become involved.” The organisers believed
that with the eibe experience in designing Indoor and Outdoor Play
space, as well as having the best quality range of Nursery
Furniture and Play equipment in Europe, our eibe team would
definitely be the perfect partners and be capable of providing
their vision and exactly what the sponsors of the show wished
to achieve.
The sponsors of the show were all major organisations dedicated
to shaping and influencing national policy as well as delivering a
wide range of innovative childrens services throughout the country.
The main sponsers were together4 children, 4Children, Play England,
DfES, Department of Health, National Children’s Bureau and
many more large organisations dedicated to children’s
welfare.
The opening of the Childrens Cente was by Beverly Hughes,
Minister for Children, young people and families. Beverly Hughes
and Charlotte Goddard, editor of Children Now then toured the
Childrens Centre, the main focus being on the layouts of the role
play zones and sensory area inside also the well laid out and
designed outdoor play area. Beverly Hughes was very complimentary
about the variety and types of Play inside and outside of the
Childrens Centre, particularly the sound and natural environments
created using the landscape.
The outside play area consisted of several zones with fixed
equipment such as a water play area, sand construction site, small
climber for toddlers, wicker huts, sound play equipment, a sensory
path leading to a scented and herb garden and also a variety of
textile surfaces. The indoor area of the centre had several
zones for role play, painting, reading, sleeping, eating, hanging
coats and boots and plenty of storage. There was also the sensory
room and next to that a drop-in centre with a youth room and
information points.
eibe Play offered two prizes to any one wishing to participate
in the competition with consultation questions which were designed
to find out what equipment or spaces the visitors would like to
have in their own nursery. The questionnaire was focused on
the indoor and the outdoor spaces and over 200 entries were
received. The results were fantastic and many of the participants
said they had learnt a lot from the event and received valuable
information from visiting the show. The majority said they loved
the sound garden area inside as well as the role play car. The
outside area had thumbs up with the water play area, construction
sand site and sensory path with herb garden.
The winners of the competition were All Saints Children’s
Centre from Chatham in Kent, and Stroud Green Children’s
Centre, Stroud Green, London.
Paul Redden eibe plays Managing Director said “ Our team
here at eibe play received nothing but praise for the quality and
good practice example of the working childrens centre we created at
the Royal Horticultural Centre in London, we learnt a lot during
these two excellent days. The main message I think is Centre
Managers are still learning about how far they can really push
boundaries and they are looking for creative and practical ideas
when it comes to providing play, risk and learning. We must all try
harder to be sure the children get every opportunity to develop as
many basic and natural skills as possible in the first stage of
their lives and as professionals and providers of child and youth
facilities, we need to keep the momentum going for the sake of
future generations.”