This article is a summary only of the podcast conversation “9. Less Plastic Toys for More Sustainable Play”. Listen to the full episode on Spotify podcasts or Apple podcasts, and go here for the relevant links mentioned in the podcast, or read on to enjoy the photos and summary of how Caves Beach Uniting Preschool helps slow down your family by choosing sustainable play

Less Plastic Toys for More Sustainable Play

If you have young kids, do you feel your house has been overtaken by too many toys? Toys that are battery operated, have all the bells and whistles or serve only one purpose.

Bringing us good news about the value of less plastic toys for more sustainable play are two highly experienced early childhood educators from Caves Beach Uniting Preschool – Director Michelle Ryan and educator Raquel Ayerst. At the heart of their preschool practice is sustainability, social justice and creativity.

Children’s Imagination

We’re born with big imaginations and creative ideas. Children use their their imagination through play as a way to express their creativity and come up with unique ideas.

When children use their imagination, they’re in charge of what’s going on, which is pretty special when they don’t always get to call the shots.

Play is their chance to take the lead and have fun. Plus, when children get lost in the imaginative flow, they’re setting the foundation for important skills such as literacy and numeracy down the track.

Connecting with Values

Connecting with values is all about how a preschool’s philosophy shows what really matters to them — like caring for nature, being sustainable, and looking after the environment. At Uniting Preschool Caves Beach, they bring personal and professional values together, creating a workplace where what people care about really shines through.

Connecting with Place

Located in a beachside suburb, with Lake Macquarie and national parks at their back door, connecting with place and the natural environment is extremely important.

The Preschool teaches children about the local First Nations people on Awabakal land. They embed local Aboriginal knowledge into everything they do – like sharing dreamtime stories, such as Tiddalik the Frog, and local language.

Connecting with Space

Let’s take a peek into what play spaces are like in a preschool. There’s no fancy equipment in particular, but the space is super engaging and thoroughly designed.

Setting the foundation for sustainable play is all about creating an inviting space. The preschool knows how important it is to engage all the senses to create the perfect set-up for play.

When you walk in, the large space feels warm and welcoming, with natural furnishings, wooden toys, real plants and materials that create a calm vibe – even with 40 children a day!

Beyond the aesthetics of the environment, the Preschool prioritises materials that spark children’s imaginations and creativity.

“As adults it’s easy to put our ideas for how a toy should do something in particular, but it’s actually the opposite effect of imaginative play. There’s a lot more possibilities for children’s play if you can have something that doesn’t have one intended purpose”

Even as experienced educators, resources will be offered with an idea in mind – only for the children to use them in ways no adult could have ever imagined!

The Indoor Block Area

The block area is a standard play area in early childhood centres filled with unit-based blocks. To adults, they might just look like a block of wood, but to kids, they’re so much more.

In the block area, children can re-create parts of their local community, such as the Swansea Bridge. Being close to the Swansea Channel, where the ocean ebbs and flows into Lake Macquarie, the Bridge is a familiar gateway to the north of Lake Macquarie.

To spark new ideas, prompts like fabric, marbles, half-pipes and cars, encourage different play possibilities. It’s all about hands-on problem-solving through investigation.

Blocks are timeless for a reason—they offer endless possibilities. With different kids, different ideas, and a new day, something entirely new is built every time.

“the idea of having things that don’t have one purpose means that they can be made into lots of different ideas”.

Outdoor Natural Environment

The Preschool’s outdoor area is a well designed, beautiful natural environment on a corner block. It has a frog pond, play equipment, a grassy patch, birdlife, bluetongues, a sandpit, and a chicken coop. A closer look, and there’s Australian native bees hiding in the garden.

Everything at the Preschool is interconnected and there’s a bigger picture. But for the children, it’s simple – the more they play, the more they learn, the more they understand how everything it linked.

Connecting with Nature

Learning about how the natural environment connects with and impacts local wildlife is just as much a learning experience for the educators as it is for the children.

The educators help children feel comfortable with the animals by including animal care into their daily practice. It’s helpful when educators like Raquel bring her permaculture knowledge into the preschool.

Respecting the animals at the preschool is about caring for each other, looking after the animals and respecting everyone’s space – both humans and animals. Having animals around gives the children the chance to get involved in looking after them too.

Bees

Keeping a hive of native bees helps children learn how the weather affects the bees’ hive location and lifespan. It’s also a gentle way to help the kids feel comfortable being around (stingless) bees.

Chickens

The chickens are always a hit! Especially as they lay eggs, which is a tangible way to see the circularity of how feeding food scraps, plus letting them roam during the preschool day teaches kindness and respect for the animals.

But chickens also help kids understand their own emotions of safety and comfort. With he welcoming of two new chickens, conversations started about how chasing the chickens can make them feel scared.

They related the chickens feelings to how they’d feel if it happened to them.

Frog Pond

On the podcast, Raquel shares a lovely story about their frog pond which transforms into the preschool’s fishing hole. Children sit by the edge, dangling their fishing rods made from sticks, wool and stones to go fishing. It’s time for them to observe, wait, and have a yarn to each other. This moment of mindfulness comes directly from the children’s imagination, inspired by the water-based activities in the community.

Raquel continues to share stories about the positive impact of the natural environment on the children, saying “there’s so much for children to look at. They’re not just here to just play with toys .They’re here to be. To experience the natural environment and what’s around them at preschool”

Bringing Sustainable Play into your Home – Outdoors and Indoors

Not everyone has a backyard, but there’s always at least one thing you can do to bring more sustainable play into your family. To help slow things down, boost creativity and strengthen relationships:

Start by growing a plant together to learn how things grow and foster a sense of appreciation & care for nature.
Go for a short bushwalk in your neighbourhood and encourage the children to really observe what they see.
Create your own scavenger hunt before a walk – ask the kids what they’d like to find, write it down and take it with you.
Use what you already have in your home
Don’t underestimate the creativity of a cardboard box – add things like timber offcuts, bits of PVC pipe, fabric offcuts or clothes you’re not using
Source “clean waste” from re-use centres like Reverse Garbage, or collect natural materials such as leaves and sticks from the park

Be present. Set aside time to follow your child’s ideas, and you’ll notice they play more independently each time
Include open-ended materials such as bottle tops, fabrics etc for short periods. This kind of open-ended play builds on their creativity and imagination, and independent play.
Turn your phone on silent for at least half an hour. Put it away and focus on being with your child. Listen and be with them by being fully present.

Encourage your child to engage in creative and imaginative play by using open-ended and natural materials instead of relying on numerous plastic or single-purpose toys. Buy less toys and instead, rethink how to set up play spaces at home to focus on simplicity, sustainability, and exploration. This approach nurtures a sense of awe and wonder for you and your children.

The ReNewy Living Podcast was recorded on Awabakal country. I wish to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land and waters in the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie region of New South Wales.

I hope you’re feeling more confident about doing better for our people and planet by taking a start where you live approach to living sustainably. If this episode has spurred you into action, please feel free to share it with your friends. It would mean the world to me!

Listen into the stories and voices of this story here at Spotify podcasts and here at Apple Podcasts… And you can also sign up to my regular emails here… I look forward to sharing more stories with you next time.