Program Spotlight

Play Is the Way to Learning at the Rethink + Reuse Center

Published Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Stacking plastic cylinders on top of yellow cones, 10-year-old Matthew is intent on building a robot. He finishes the “legs,” and then, with the steadiest hand possible, sets one more cylinder in place.

There’s a wobble, a teeter and then – his creation collapses to the floor. Five minutes later Matthew’s “robot” is transformed. Now it’s an observatory. The robot’s legs are towers, wood blocks form a fence at the base to keep out snooping spies, and a single plastic cone – the observatory’s main telescope – protrudes from the top.

At the Rethink + Reuse Center, play is the word of every day and the gateway to creativity and inventiveness. Every robot that collapses is simply an opportunity to invent something new. This educational and environmental nonprofit, funded by The Children’s Trust, endorses a “play is learning” approach that it imparts to educators, parents and early childhood professionals.

Founded in 2004, the Rethink + Reuse Center and warehouse is bunched into the bustling industrial district just off Bird Road and next to the Palmetto Expressway. Clean recyclable materials are donated and collected from manufacturers, businesses and other donors, and stored at the center. The materials are then used in creative child-centered learning activities to enhance school readiness skills for young children.

Training teachers in the benefits of play and “open-ended” learning – hands-on activities using materials with no-predetermined use – is the center’s other key focus.

Open-ended play teaches pre-school
children many necessary skills.

“First teachers play along so they can explore and manipulate the materials. If they understand how children learn through this process of play – if they become children again, they can relate,” says Executive Director Michelle Rosen.

Rosen got her play-is-learning “ah-ha” moment several years ago. Part of a task force on early education, she attended a workshop facilitated by Walter Drew, president of the Reusable Resources Association and founder of the Institute of Self Active Education in Massachusetts in the mid-1970s. In the 1980s, Drew launched the Boston Public Schools Recycle Center, a program that became a national model.

“I had never seen children so engaged before. They were just using junk as open-ended materials,” Rosen remembers. “I knew that he [Drew] was really on to something.” Rosen investigated further, developed her idea and then secured an innovation grant from The Children’s Trust.

Margarita Borda joined Rethink + Reuse four months ago as a part-time trainer. Borda shows pre-school teachers and parents how to incorporate more play into their activities. Sessions, in Spanish and in English, are offered at the center and at a number of early childhood centers.

10-year-old Matthew uses an array of plastic cyclinders to
build his observatory.

“There is room [within the educational process] for open-ended play,” says Borda, careful not to criticize more structured learning approaches. “Open-ended play supports creative thinking, abstract thinking – all the starting school skills that a child needs.”

Borda highlights the benefits of the play-focused, open-ended environment for young creative minds. “A toy car that loses a wheel is just that: a car without a wheel. But a car that you’ve made that loses a wheel can become anything that you want it to be,” she said, adding “and if you discover something you will remember it far more than if someone tells you.”

On an October morning, Keila Tirado joined seven other mothers and their home-schooled children for a first-time visit to the Center. Mother and son sat side by side on the floor, each constructing their own creation, choosing from a wide variety of recycled plastics, fabrics, bottles, caps and other materials.

“I love everything that has to do with hands-on learning,” said Tirado, explaining her reason for visiting. The “no rules” approach to learning suits her son well. At home, Matthew has his own library and classroom; he learns on his own schedule. “I tried him in a school, but he was like a hamster in a cage.”

A wide assortment of recyclable materials are available for use.

Ethan and John, both 11, are best friends. During the play session, the two boys are knee to knee and scurrying around on the floor collecting materials. Within minutes, they’ve erected a uniquely engineered multi-storied house. The roof is filled with silver caps – for harnessing electricity to power the home. A single taller rod peaks out from the center.

“I heard of a woman who was hit by lightning,” Ethan explains, “this center rod pulls the ‘bad’ electricity away.”

“Children love to build,” Rosen says. “If they don’t understand the concept that you need a wider base, that you need pieces to support the building up, they’ll give you a whole story of what they’re doing.” Teachers circulate in the play-inspired classroom and can document the stories children tell about their creative process: visible learning.

Rethink + Reuse training sessions help child care professionals understand that play is essential in child development. Through pre- and post-tests, these educators of young children are tested on their knowledge of age-appropriate development skills and expectations for learning. By participating in the same process that the children do, they see how creative play fosters school readiness skills: Children learn to count; to find and use words to explain their learning; to collaborate and interact with peers; to build self-esteem through their abilities, among others.

Members receive 25 pounds of materials
annually as part of their membership
benefits.

For her part, Rosen is convinced that children are healthier physically and emotionally when participating in open-ended learning environments and that they learn all the skills they need to be ready to succeed when entering school.

“We can help by being a resource. We can teach other agencies how to use these materials, help them process ideas on how to use them and have the materials here for them,” Rosen says and then adds, “for some people this is a real discovery. Almost everything is garbage until you realize it can be reused."

The Rethink + Reuse Center
4548 SW 75th Avenue Miami, FL

Phone: (305) 267-6665
Monday-Friday 10:00am- 6:00pm
Open by appointment after scheduled hours.

Written by Michael R. Malone