Posted on

Take Celebrations Outside this World Book Day

News Wbd18 Featured | Take Celebrations Outside This World Book Day | Creative Play

World Book Day is just around the corner, and children up and down the country will be celebrating all things storytelling this Thursday (01/03/2018). It’s a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and (most importantly) it’s a celebration of reading. In fact, it’s the biggest celebration of its kind, designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and marked in over 100 countries all over the world.

Often school children dress up as their favourite characters or bring in their favourite book to share, but here at Creative Play we have come up with four fantastic ways to mark this special day outside in the playground.

Lights, Camera, ACTION

News Wbd18A | Take Celebrations Outside This World Book Day | Creative PlayMore and more often, popular books are now getting adapted into full length feature films and exciting TV shows. Why not follow suit and get pupils to perform their favourite scene from their favourite book? From individual performances to large group acts, this is the perfect way to build on communication and performance skills whilst boosting confidence levels.

Click here to browse our range of Stages and make your performance really stand out!


Illustrate your Favourite Protagonist

News Wbd18B | Take Celebrations Outside This World Book Day | Creative PlayDraw, paint or sketch your favourite story’s main protagonist with our wide range of art-based Playboards. Whether you either mimic or copy the illustrations provided in the book, or us the book’s descriptive text to re-imagine their appearance, children will love channelling their inner Quentin Blake, Liz Pichon or Nick Sharratt in the open air.

Click here to browse our range of Playboards and bring your favourite characters to life


Get Lost in your own World

News Wbd18C | Take Celebrations Outside This World Book Day | Creative PlayPlayhouses are not just great from staying sheltered from the elements, they are perfect for enhancing reading experiences and creating a relaxing environment. For either individual silent reading or small group spoken reading, why not take it one step further and choose a themed playhouse that relates to the story being read? We think our Timber Playhouse Arc would be perfect for any The Hobbit fans!

Click here to browse our range of Playhouses


Share your Favourite Story

News Wbd18D | Take Celebrations Outside This World Book Day | Creative PlayShare your favourite stories outside with one of our timber Storytelling Areas. With seating options for both little ones and adults, everyone can get involved! Perfect for building confidence whilst improving their literacy skills, reading out loud is a great way for children to nurture their communication skills.

THERE’S STILL TIME TO ENTER! WIN A STORYTELLING AREA FOR YOUR SCHOOL

Click here to enter our World Book Day Competition via our Facebook Page

Winner to be announced at 12 noon on Thursday 1st March 2018 (World Book Day)

Click here for full terms & conditions


World Book Day 2018 will be celebrating its 21st year on the March 1st. It’s a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and (most importantly) it’s a celebration of reading and is active in over 100 countries all over the world.

Click here to visit World Book Day’s website

Posted on

Get your Nursery Play Garden Summer Ready

Summerplaygardens Featured | Get Your Nursery Play Garden Summer Ready | Creative Play

With the warmer months fast approaching, now is the perfect time to develop your nursery outdoor play space. Whether you want to add a new piece of equipment to refresh the area or re-develop your area entirely, we at Creative Play are always on-hand and ready to help!

With so many products in our product catalogue, (over 500 to be exact!) we can understand this might be a slightly daunting task. However our expert, in-house design team have put together six sensational ideas to get your play garden sizzling this summer!


MAKE A SPLASH!

Summerplaygardens 1 | Get Your Nursery Play Garden Summer Ready | Creative PlayOur water play range is ideal for sensory play and are a great way to keep little ones cool during the hot summer months. With a variety of water tray and water wall-based products, we have something to suit every area size and budget!

BONUS TIP: Why not get creative? Our durable water trays are not just perfect for water! Why not experiment with chilly ice, soft sand, sticky mud or even colourful bubbles?!

Click here to view our Water Play range


AL FRESCO DEN MAKING

Summerplaygardens 2 | Get Your Nursery Play Garden Summer Ready | Creative PlayHere at Creative Play we are well-known for our themed playhouses. Including rustic hobbit-houses and vibrant Teepees, these popular play pieces are great for sparking a child’s imagination as well as offering them a place to stay sheltered from the changeable elements.

BONUS TIP: Don’t stop there! Add tactile pillows, cosy blankets and your favourite toys to our playhouses and create the ultimate den!

Click here to view our Playhouses


EXPLORE NEW HEIGHTS

Summerplaygardens 3 | Get Your Nursery Play Garden Summer Ready | Creative PlayChallenging, but age-appropriate, play towers are a fantastic way for building on a child’s fundamental movements skills while providing an outlet for kinaesthetic learning. Best of all our completely modular Jigsaw Play Tower range lets you select the components you want to include. Tailor-make your play tower to suit your children’s abilities as well as your area size and budget – it’s that simple!

BONUS TIP: Why not get the children involved with the design process? Let them choose their favourite play components and see their own creation come to life!

Click here to view our Jigsaw Play Towers


GET DIGGING

Summerplaygardens 4 | Get Your Nursery Play Garden Summer Ready | Creative PlayRun away with your imagination and pretend you are at the beach with our Sand Play range. Including both timber and vibrant playtec products, children will love building castles and digging for pirate treasure with these classic play pieces!

BONUS TIP: Hide small toys or ‘fossils’ inside our sandboxes and let the children carry out their own excavations!

Click here to view our Sand Play range


LET’S GET MESSY

Summerplaygardens 5 | Get Your Nursery Play Garden Summer Ready | Creative PlayThe ideal products for combining imaginative and sensory play, our Messy Play Tables are ideal for both individual and group play. Made with hard-wearing materials, get stuck in and create your own unique creations.

BONUS TIP: Write down (or draw) ingredients on the included chalk boards and the get the children to gather them and create their own recipes!

Click here to view our Messy Play Tables


GET CRAFTY

Summerplaygardens 6 | Get Your Nursery Play Garden Summer Ready | Creative PlayFrom Chalk Boards to Painting Stations, Music Panels to weaving structures, our range of Playboards are all about unleashing a child’s inner artist! Whatever your medium of choice, whether that be chalk, poster paints or tissue paper, Children will love creating new masterpieces inspired by the outdoors.

BONUS TIP: Group a variety of different Playboards together to create an awesome outdoor craft zone!

Click here to view our Playboard range


Want Creative Play to help with you nursery’s outdoor play garden development?

Click here to get in touch to book your free, no-obligation consultation or design.

Just want a chat? Call 01244 375 627 to discuss all things play!

Posted on

We’re Supporting Children’s Mental Health Week 2018!

Cmhw Featured | We'Re Supporting Children'S Mental Health Week 2018! | Creative Play

Creative Play is pleased to be supporting Place2Be’s Children’s Mental Health Week

(5th-11th February 2018)Cmhw18 Being Ourselves Image Tw | We'Re Supporting Children'S Mental Health Week 2018! | Creative Play

The theme this year is ‘Being Ourselves’. Sadly, some children and young people can find it difficult to view themselves in a positive way; with low self-esteem affecting more than 8 in 10 of the pupils who have Place2Be’s one-to-one support. That is why this Children’s Mental Health Week, Place2Be is encouraging children and young people to celebrate their uniqueness and feel comfortable with who they are.

Whilst we cannot always change a child’s situation, helping them to have a positive view of themselves can help them to cope with life’s challenges. Recognising the different qualities of others can also help us to connect with those around us – which is vital for our own and others’ wellbeing!

Cmhw 2B 300X250 1 | We'Re Supporting Children'S Mental Health Week 2018! | Creative PlayPlace2Be’s Royal Patron, HRH The Duchess of Cambridge has recorded a special video message to help launch this year’s Children’s Mental Health Week.

Simple as it sounds, encouraging pupils to celebrate each other’s unique strengths can help them feel valued, become more resilient and to cope with pressures both in and outside of school.


In light of Children’s Mental Health Week, we have released a brand new product that provides a great outlet for children to express and communicate their feelings and emotions. Click here to view our brand new Mood Board

Cmhw 1 | We'Re Supporting Children'S Mental Health Week 2018! | Creative Play

Want to get involved? Find more information and share Place2Be’s resources for parents, teachers and youth groups at www.ChildrensMentalHealthWeek.org.uk

Cmhw18 Piglet Graphic Tw | We'Re Supporting Children'S Mental Health Week 2018! | Creative Play
Posted on

Playground Maintenance & Aftercare

Maintenancearticle Featured | Playground Maintenance &Amp; Aftercare | Creative Play

Here at Creative Play we pride ourselves on delivering you exciting and innovative playgrounds that you can enjoy for many years to come BUT…. Playgrounds don’t look after themselves!

Maintenance and Aftercare is required on all playgrounds to ensure safety standards are met and to prevent damage and possibly injuries.

We have dedicated aftersales team to support you from the moment we sign off your playground. From top tips you can do yourself to offering our maintenance & inspection packages.

We have detailed all of this below for you to ensure you are confident you have a safe playground that meets all of the BS EN standards and to have confidence in letting the children run free!!!


Maintenancearticle 2 | Playground Maintenance &Amp; Aftercare | Creative Play

After Creative Play have completed the installation of your playground one of our Project Managers (RPII qualified) will be on site to sign off your new equipment. During this time, we will ensure all of the equipment and safety surfacing meets the BS EN 1176/1177 standards and will provide one to one training on how to perform Routine Visual Inspections.

Not only this, once we have signed of your new play area we will provide you with one of our Aftercare Toolboxes. This will include relevant tools and fastening, instructions on how to check fixtures and fittings and tightening bolts. An Operational Inspection Booklet will also be included to allow you to record all inspections completed.

BS EN 1176 (the standard for play equipment) recommends a number of inspections during the life of the playground.

Routine Visual Inspections (training provided as detailed above):

These inspections should be carried out daily when the equipment is first used and each week once the novelty has worn off. During this inspection you should check for obvious hazards that can result from vandalism such as broken bottles etc. and any missing fastenings or loose bolts. It is not considered necessary to keep a written record of this inspection but feel free to.

Operational Inspections:

This is a more detailed inspection to check the operation and stability of the equipment especially for wear. This inspection should be completed every 1 – 3 months and a written record should be kept – See Package 1 below.

Annual Main Inspections:

This inspection is carried out to establish the overall level of safety of the equipment, foundations and surfaces, effects of weather, presence of rotting or corrosion and any change of the level of equipment as a result of repairs made, or of added/replaced components.

This inspection should be carried out by a competent persons in strict accordance with Creative Plays instructions. A written record should be recorded and kept of this inspection – See Package 2 & 3 below.


Plain Inspection Maintenance | Playground Maintenance &Amp; Aftercare | Creative Play

Creative Play offer 2 different Maintenance Packages, we have detailed these below:

Package One – Operational Inspection and Service

Price from £295 plus VAT – (depending on size of area)

  • Thorough operational inspection and service of Creative Play equipment
  • Renewal of worn moving parts and full report (Includes quotation for chargeable works)

Package Two – Annual Inspection and Service

Price from £420 plus VAT – (depending on size of area)

  • Thorough operational inspection and service of Creative Play equipment
  • Renewal of worn moving parts and full report (Includes quotation for chargeable works)
  • Annual inspection of entire play area by an Independent RPII inspector together with full report.

TOP TIP!!!!

Routine Visual Inspections completed by yourself should include the below:

  • Play equipment and play area is clear of rubbish, foreign objects and clean.
  • Foundations are not exposed, loose in the ground or cracked.
  • All access and entrances free from obstructions
  • Safer surfaces undamaged
  • All loose fill surfaces level, without rubbish or fouling
  • Any signs of damage to equipment
  • Any signs of ropes fraying and in particular no protruding wire.
  • All fixtures, fittings and ropes tight – see attached step-by-step guide.

20190529 111716 Scaled E1580295557621 768X504.Jpg | Playground Maintenance &Amp; Aftercare | Creative Play

Don’t forget, we offer some of the longest and most comprehensive product guarantees in the industry and crucially we have been around for over 25 years to be able to stand by the materials and processes we use. Click here to see more detail…

Please contact us on 01244 375627 or email [email protected] if you require further information.