Birthe Mallach-Mlynczak, Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle
"Look, look!" Fritz quickly ducks down again. He can be heard laughing. Shortly afterwards he calls again, "Look, look!" He is in his den, his house. Hidden from the gaze of grown-ups. He has clambered into his "den" without any help. He has climbed quite slowly up 40 cm over the little climbing net to reach the entrance. Now his face can be seen; he looks quite red. He is astonished and laughs. He looks out from the round, red window at a coloured world. Fritz returns to the entrance to his "den" and looks out over the space in front of him. His body is tensed, he holds on firmly at one side and he feels big. When you are scarcely 90 cm in height, climbing up 40 cm changes your perspective enormously. Carefully he turns around and clambers out of his den.
Charlotte comes running up to him. She has learned to run really fast in the last few months. Behind her comes Lena: “Let’s go into the house. You can be my child. And I will make a meal for us. OK?" Two-year old Charlotte looks up in awe at four-year old Lena. Lena helps her up the two steps to the house. Then she clambers up nimbly behind her. Charlotte lies flat on the 30 cm high stools and gradually pulls herself upright. Success! She sits down. In the meantime Lena has “cooked a meal” in various moulds. The red light, which shines in through the window gives the impression of a fireplace on the floor. The cooking ingredients, sand and leaves, lie ready to be “cooked”.
Christiane, their nursery teacher looks in from outside. "Hallo, you two, don't you want to come and watch? Star Group has prepared a play." Of course they want to watch it. The nursery teachers have stretched a cord between "their" house and the next house. Two blankets are hung up to make a curtain. A blackboard hangs on the neighbouring house. A pirate and a princess can be seen. Christiane steps forward: "Welcome to the story of the Pirate and his Princess."
The play is really exciting. When it is over, everyone is hungry and thirsty. The nursery teachers have set out apples and tea in the "blackboard house". The children scramble in one after another. They find a space to sit down, enjoy the juicy apples and talk about the play they have just seen. Stefan, one of the nursery teachers, sits with them and enjoys their excitement on meeting in the play chest. Three play chests stand in the grounds. They are wooden chests on steel posts, which have been left open on the narrow sides. Their inner and outer appearance varies from chest to chest. Sometimes there are colourful panels, inspiring the imagination and games, sometimes the board offers space for creative play. Different types of seating turn the interior of the chest into a meeting point for a larger group or inspire traditional role play. The posts allow the chests to "sway" at different heights above the ground, leading to an infinite variety of possibilities for climbing up and down. The metal loops fastened to the posts offer anchorage points for further play. They can, however, simply serve to hold up a clothes line and this of course can also become an open air gallery.
Change of perspective
Children under 4 years of age do not need huge heights and large, complicated equipment. What is required are rather small changes in perspective, stimulation of the senses, which present the recently-discovered world in a different light. Moreover, spaces into which to retreat, which can be reached on your own or by using your own strength and which stimulate role play are required.
“Watch out! It's about to go in.” Fritz and his friend lift the tricycle into their “garage”. The blue light from the window pane falls on the wheel. It now looks as if it has just been washed! The pair look out of the play chest, beaming with joy.
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