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| Sue Kreitzman~Photo by Richard Kay |
Hello Braapers~Be Ready And Act Promptly!
Colour is essential for life and a lack of colour is pretty catastrophic- so you can see why I welcome Sue Kreitzman's wise words, printed 5 years ago in Beauty Magazine UK.
As you can tell, Sue is a huge advocate for colour which forms the basis of her life philosophy- along with good food, given Sue spent many years sharing her culinary skills as a TV chef. I first came across Sue on Facebook and finally met her at an art evening on International Women's Day, March 2020. Looking at the date, that was a blessing being before lockdown. Here's my pic of Sue and for a first attempt, it's not bad LOL!
I particularly like Sue's comment about a beige environment. We talk about variety being the spice of life, so how come the majority of children's nurseries have adopted the beige phenomena so enthusiastically? In reality, some studies argue for colour and others against- whatever your view, you can find the evidence to back it up. Sue mentions, 'turning to bright, childish, primary colours,' but I kid you not when I say that the modern trend in childcare is to surround children with wooden furniture and the use of colour is very minimalistic. So who else benefits? The people who have been doing really well out of the beige rampage, having been established for a considerable length of time are Community Playthings; a religious sect that made its way from America to Robertsbridge, Kent. In fact, I remember visiting them many years ago during my childcare training. Every nursery in the country probably has a few items from this supplier as they are extremely well made and highly functional.
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| Typical nursery environment recommended by Nursery World |
The picture above is described as the ideal environment for babies. What do you think? Everything these days is about embracing natural materials and doing away with plastic which is so far removed from the real world. Yes, some children do not respond well to an environment full of bright colours, but going from a child's home into this type of environment must be a bit of a culture shock. Clearly, carpeting isn't the best thing these days post pandemic, however, the overall affect of this approach lacks the feel-good factor... and it's not the best for staff well-being either! As Sue says, it is a grey, scared world and many people really do live in fear, therefore childhood is the time for joy and looking at that picture, I'm not feeling it!
This piece of equipment is called a Wren's Nest. I didn't know that until today; I refer to it as the confessional because that's what it reminds me of. Obviously, the idea is to give children a cosy, secure space where they can take time out or just play alone. The young model here is fortunate to have a piece of blue cloth over the top of her nest, providing one opportunity to add a splash of colour to the room, so I'm glad they're making the most of it!
To be fair, nursery environments were too colourful and busy in the past with every bit of space covered in pictures. Not just on boards but directly on the walls making the room visually confusing, providing too many over-stimulating messages which clearly resulted in frustrated behaviours. Personally, a balance is needed and can be obtained by painting walls in pastel colours and complimenting them by using stronger colours in strategic places around the room. Thankfully in my room, we have some light yellow on one wall and a little green in the flooring which provides more warmth than we see here- I still think we would benefit from a nice bright picture on the wall. On the up side, children are provided with a wonderful selection of paints and paint sticks to encourage experimentation which is essential for both learning and enjoyment; along with encouraging them to develop their sense of individuality and achievement. 'I am enough', is the current buzz phrase so let's help them get off to a good start.
Returning to plastic for a minute, many nurseries are quite literally doing away with it. The new owner of my previous nursery threw every bit of plastic into a skip including some new remote control cars. How crazy is that? Look out landfill because this approach is wrecking the planet. I think we live in the real world and the real world contains a mix of materials, therefore I see no reason why this cannot be reflected in a child's immediate environment. Balance is key in every aspect of life, which forms the basis of my argument.
Another important thing to remember is colour therapy/art therapy. When I worked at Springfield Psychiatric Hospital this played a huge role. Patients really benefitted from their art therapy sessions which had a very positive effect on them. Wearing colour is regarded as an important way to lift your mood and is essential in the world of fashion and design. I interviewed styling consultant Lisa Gillbie in 2011. Lisa understands how she can help people feel so much better when they wear colours that really suit them and this helps with confidence and self-esteem.
Finally, the biggie- Mother Nature. Can you imagine if she were stripped of colour? Don't we just love looking at colour whether in the form of individual flowers or fields of green grass, red poppies and especially glorious yellow- Rapeseed is just gorgeous. And, those beautiful blue skies and amazing sunsets!
You know, I'm not concerned as to which psychologist persuaded people to latch onto the idea of providing biscuit-beige nursery environments. I remember seeing the prototype set out at the Nursery World exhibition or Childcare Expo... whichever, and thinking, 'please don't let this be the future!' But it was, and this gives rise to my final thought on the subject... if you know the story maybe you can follow! 'The King is in the Altogether now...' and I'm just hoping for our children's sake that we can traverse backwards a little.
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my Facebook group if you would like to contribute to Its Braap. Thank you. Jaz
McKenzie~ The Word Magician
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