Resources for children's activities often prove expensive, so it is always satisfying to discover something that costs nothing. Recycled materials not only help you cut down on waste, but with a little imagination can also provide useful resources and interesting play opportunities. Display a notice inviting parents to save leftover vinyl tiles and scraps of flooring, and make a collection. Store smaller pieces in a strong box and tape larger pieces in rolls to store in a plastic bucket.
Try out some of these suggestions for making use of vinyl flooring scraps to promote learning across all areas of the curriculum.
Personal, social and emotional development
* Cut out pancake shapes from oatmeal-coloured vinyl to use in the home area. Try tossing them with a toy frying pan or plastic tennis racquet on Shrove Tuesday.
* Cut out coin shapes, bury them in sand and then take turns to find 'buried treasure'. Encourage older children to help younger children.
Communication, language and literacy
* Cut out a 'magic' triangle from brightly coloured vinyl and use it at circle time, explaining that only the child holding the triangle can speak while the others must listen.
* Use scraps in role play as, for example, bread rolls, loaves, pizzas, flans, money, plates, coasters and tablemats.
* Cut out letter shapes, put them in the water and invite the children to fish them out and identify their 'catch'.
* Invite children to make their names out of the vinyl letters and glue them to a piece of card so they can feel them.
Mathematical development
* Count vinyl coins to pay for goods in shop role play. Share vinyl coins among some dolls so that they all have the same amount.
* Create different vinyl shapes, such as circles, triangles, squares and rectangles. Sort them into separate groups and name them. Weigh the shapes on a balance and talk about 'adding more' and 'taking some away' until they 'balance'.
* Hide vinyl numbers in sand and ask the children to find a number and then count out the correct number of objects to put alongside that number. Put vinyl numbers in a feely bag and see if the children can guess what they are. Start with just 1 and 2 and gradually add the numbers the children are familiar with.
* Put some vinyl fish shapes in a water tray and try catching them with a sieve, large slotted spoon or fishing net. Count the 'catch'.
* Create appropriate shapes to use as props for number rhymes, for example, 'Five currant buns', 'Five little ducks' or 'Five speckled frogs'. Add numbers with a waterproof black pen.
Knowledge and understanding of the world
* Feel vinyl scraps with different textures and talk about 'smooth' and 'rough' surfaces.
* Compare the properties of vinyl with other materials, such as wood, paper, cardboard and rigid plastic.
* Explain the use of the flooring and talk about floor coverings the children have at home, such as floorboards, cork tiles, laminate flooring and carpets. Talk about why vinyl is good for kitchen and bathroom floors.
Try wetting and then wiping a piece of carpet and a piece of vinyl flooring. Which dries first? Ask the children whether they prefer carpets or tiles in the bathroom, and why.
* Talk about flooring in the past, for example, small rag rugs and clay tiles, and how they were cleaned by shaking, beating, scrubbing or mopping.
Compare these methods with how floors are cleaned today using vacuum cleaners and squeezy mops.
Physical development
* Cut out some brown vinyl potato shapes and play 'Fill the potato sack'.
Divide the children into two teams. Put small sacks or bags at one end of the room and a pile of 'potatoes' at the other. Invite the children to take turns to run and pick up a potato and bring it back to put in the sack until all the potatoes are in the sacks.
* Cut out large circular shapes and ask the children to copy your movements as you hold the circle high in the air, put it on the ground and jump over it. Let children make up their own movements and play 'Follow my leader'.
Creative development
* Cut out interesting shapes, such as snakes, fish and stars, and glue each one to a chunk of wood. Hold the wood, dip the shape into a mixture of paint and PVA glue to print patterns and designs.
* Cut vinyl into shapes to use on collage work and models, such as buttons or shoes on a collage clown, knobs on machines or wheels on model cars.