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The Parakeet Studio

@_parakeet_studio

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A play-centred approach to art, creativity + connection 🌿
OPAL Mentor @opalwestmids
Monthly @parakeet_playgroup_ + #FREEPLAY
We make mud kitchens 🍴

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Outdoor play kitchens made for OPAL schools and for the whole primary school, not just EYFS.

These aren’t just mud kitchens. They’re open-ended spaces for imaginative, creative, sensory, social and exploratory play - becoming cafés, restaurants, potion labs, campsites, woodland kitchens and whatever else children can imagine.

Built for Reception through to Year 6, they support intergenerational play, giving younger and older children opportunities to play together.

We build using reclaimed pallet timber and repurposed materials wherever possible, creating something robust, characterful and sustainable. Every kitchen includes a sink and water, plus ingredient trays for soil, sand, bark, pine cones, leaves and whatever natural materials you want to provide. We can even incorporate a nearby digging area so children can source their own ingredients.

And the best bit? We can usually build a kitchen in around two days, meaning we can transform your playground over a weekend, ready for children to discover on Monday.

Not just a kitchen. A place where children can imagine, create, collaborate and play.

🌿 Want to transform an area of your playground? Get in touch:
www.theparakeetstudio.com by @_parakeet_studio

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2 months ago

The playground is the engine room of the school.

Hidden from the timetable but essential to its movement, it generates the curiosity, agency, imagination and social understanding that propel children’s learning forward.

In play, children make meaning, test possibilities, build relationships and develop the curiosity, confidence and creativity that power every classroom experience.

Join @outdoorplayandlearning and see the difference for yourself.

Reimagine playtime as a powerful part of your school culture, building happier children and a stronger school community. by @_parakeet_studio

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2 months ago

Hello and Welcome new followers. I am Amy and I’m the founder of @_parakeet_studio 🦜

I’ve worked with children and young people my whole career. I have an MA in Early Years (Education) from @crecuk I have set up an arts-based early years setting, run children’s arts festivals and put together lots of play-centred short and longer term projects in neighbourhoods and communities in Birmingham and Sandwell.

I am also an OPAL Mentor working with Kaleigh and Ruth @opalwestmids in the midlands to improve play for children in primary school. I really love seeing the impact of OPAL on the whole school, the energy of hundreds of happy children, really is life affirming!

I grew up in rural mid-wales, as a child, I played outdoors in the wild elements of rural Mid Wales until either it was going dark or my tummy was rumbling. My favourite type of play as a child was to make potions and concoctions and as part of our work I set up community mud kitchens in neighbourhoods that want to become more child-friendly. I think we need to create many more spaces for children to play in our communities outside of fixed equipment in parks and soft play centres!

I’ve had the opportunity to reflect on the skills that I picked up through my childhood play and how they have served me growing up and in my career in the arts, education and social justice. I can definitely attribute a sense of resilience, being able to come back from knock-backs, a flexibility to change paths, creativity, curiosity and a sense playfulness, seeing the funny things in life. I’m married to @gavin.campbell the handy hands and vision for our mud kitchens and together we have three children Theo, 10 Remy 7 and Reuben 6. My mum @clarevioletmartin is also in on the action and hand-makes many of our art/play resources from felt and fabric.

Thanks for following along, I’d love to hear about you! by @_parakeet_studio

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2 years ago

That was a lively #freeplay session supported by @goplaysandwell A big thanks to Marian @sthildasc and our fantastic Playworkers @abiolajade @henriettagcreative and @theplaycycle ❤️ taken in St Hilda's Church by @_parakeet_studio

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a day ago

What is the child noticing, questioning, interpreting and discovering through the process of drawing?

Malaguzzi’s philosophy challenges the idea that children think only through words. Drawing is one of the many languages through which children can express and develop their thinking. Drawing can help them discover what they think, question what they understand and develop new ideas. by @_parakeet_studio

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4 days ago

🌟 FREE PLAY SESSIONS IN SMETHWICK! 🌟

Thanks to support from Sandwell Council’s Go Play Grassroots Programme for 2026–2027, we’re delighted to offer FREE drop-and-go play sessions for children aged 5–12 who live in Sandwell, or up to 16 years for young people with SEND. 💚

Our experienced playworkers create a welcoming space where children can play freely, make friends, build confidence and follow their own ideas. No screens, no pressure, just fun, creativity and adventure!

✨ Activities include:
🪵 Den building
🪣 Mud kitchen play and sand pit
🌳 Tree swing and outdoor play
🎨 Arts, crafts, making and creating
📦 Cardboard construction using Chomp Saws and Makedo tools
🌿 Large loose parts and open-ended materials

📍 Venue:
St Hilda’s Community Room
269 Abbey Road, Smethwick, B67 5NR

📅 Upcoming FREE Play Dates:

• Saturday 17 October
• Saturday 21 November
• Saturday 12 December
• Saturday 16 January
• Saturday 20 February

🎟️ Places are FREE, but booking is essential! www.book when.com/parakeet (link in the bio)

#FreePlay #Sandwell #Smethwick #ChildLedPlay childfriendlysandwell taken in St Hilda's Church by @_parakeet_studio

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8 days ago

Hello to my new followers, I’m Amy, founder of The Parakeet Studio.

Some of my happiest play memories came from growing up in rural Wales roaming far and wide, riding bikes that were far too big for me, riding ponies as fast as I could make them go, climbing trees and playing in streams.

If I hurt myself, I’d fashion a bandage from spit and a dock leaf and crack on. I made mixtapes from the radio, wore roller skates at school, and went to a primary school of just 52 children, behind a white picket fence.

I had an enormous amount of freedom to play, explore, take risks, get lost, make things up and find my own way.

I’d love for children today to have the same play affordances I had. But I recognise that life is very different now. That’s why we need compensatory spaces for children to play at school and friendly playful neighbourhoods where they live. We need adults and communities to advocate for play and protect the time, space and permission children need to play in ways that are important to them.

I’m hopeful that England will one day have a national play policy, following the other nations.

I’m at the Play England @playengland Conference this week, so if you’re here too, come and say hi. I’d love to meet you and talk play, come say hello, my hairstyle has changed very little from this picture, but I’ll probably switch up the outfit and accessories 😉 🐴 by @_parakeet_studio

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10 days ago

As Playworkers, we have a clear definition of the play process:

Play is intrinsically motivated, freely chosen and self-directed - @playworkfoundation

This is a noticeable difference to our early years cousins, who often view play through a developmental lens, considering what children get out of play and which developmental milestones it supports them to achieve.

Playwork starts somewhere different. Play is the thing itself. The method of travel, the cosmic motorway and sometimes the lay-by, not the developmental destination. Importantly, it is children’s right.

Intrinsic motivation means: I want to do this because I want to do this.
Play gives children opportunities to experience motivation from the inside, curiosity, discovery, satisfaction, persistence and the desire to keep going.

I like this.
I want to do this.
I’m going to try again.
Actually, I don’t like this.
I wonder what happens if…

Free choice is more than “chips or mash?”
It is autonomy - deciding what you want to do, how you want to do it, whether you want to do it at all, and being able to change your mind.

And self-directed?
In a world largely controlled by adults, play tells children:
You are in charge here.
You decide what happens.
You decide what it means.
You decide when it changes.
You decide when it stops.
It’s agency.

And agency isn’t something we can simply tell children they have. It is something they need to experience first hand.

#playwork101 #playworkersofinstagram by @_parakeet_studio

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11 days ago

At @parakeet_playgroup_ we want families to leave with ideas: to see that play doesn’t require expensive toys or complicated activities, and that everyday objects can become invitations to imagine, explore and create. by @_parakeet_studio

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12 days ago

Unfortunately due to staff shortages there will be no playgroup in October - but we’re back in November and all dates are available to book via www.bookwhen.com/parakeet ❤️ Thank you for supporting our community playgroup, please spread the word! 👍 taken in St Hilda's Church by @_parakeet_studio

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15 days ago

Playwork 101: The Image of the Child

Playwork assumes children are socially competent and autonomous, recognising the integrity of their perspective through play.

This connects closely with the Reggio Emilia image of the child: children as rich in potential, competent, powerful, strong and connected to others (Malaguzzi, 1994).

Children are active agents, creating meaning through relationships, play, materials and the world around them.

This challenges the idea of children as ‘human becomings’, incomplete individuals progressing towards adulthood and in need of instruction.

Instead, children are understood as human beings, with their own perspectives, rights, views and opinions that have value here and now.

Yet the ‘dominant deficit model’ (Tawil & Barclay, 2021) continues to position children around what they cannot yet do, what they need to develop and how ready they are for the next stage.

Play matters because it is meaningful in the present. For playwork, this means listening beyond language and attending to what children communicate through their play in the moment.

The image of the child we hold shapes our practice: whether we intervene or observe, direct or follow, manage or trust.

Moving away from deficit-based understandings requires a fundamental shift in adult practice, power and expectations.

#playwork101 #playworkersofinstagram #playwork #reggio by @_parakeet_studio

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18 days ago

5 years ago, I joined the OPAL team and started supporting schools in the West Midlands to improve their playtimes. Now, alongside the wonderful Amy and Ruth, we are supporting around 160 schools- roughly 64,000 children to embrace child led, adventurous play every day! So proud of our @opalwestmids team! Happier children, happier staff and happier schools. 🤸‍♀️ 🤸‍♂️ #opalschools by @_parakeet_studio

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20 days ago