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Parakeet Playgroup

@parakeet_playgroup_

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Community-rooted early years play 🌿
Inspired by Playwork, Reggio Emilia & UK playgroup traditions | @_parakeet_studio
childhood • connection • play

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Community organising and the roots of the UK playgroup movement

The UK playgroup movement began in the early 1960s as a direct response to the lack of state-provided nursery education. It was driven by mothers who recognised both the developmental importance of early childhood experiences and the isolation many families were facing.

One of the key pioneers was Belle Tutaev, who helped establish voluntary, community-based provision so young children could learn and socialise through play. What began as small groups meeting in church halls and community spaces quickly grew into a national movement.

In 1961/62, the Pre-School Playgroups Association (PPA) was founded to support and formalise this grassroots growth. Within a few years, the movement had expanded dramatically reaching more than 100,000 children by the late 1960s.

Playgroups were distinctive because they were: • Community organised • Parent-led and volunteer supported • Rooted in play as the foundation of early learning • Embedded in neighbourhood spaces
They were never just about childcare. They were about building local networks of trust, confidence and mutual support alongside children’s development.

That community function is now being reaffirmed. In 2025, research from Glasgow Caledonian University highlighted playgroups as an important neighbourhood-level early years intervention. The study found that playgroups create safe, accessible spaces where families reduce isolation, strengthen social connections, and access informal peer support - contributing to both child development and parental wellbeing.

More than sixty years on, playgroups remain a powerful example of community organising in action: local people identifying a need, mobilising collective effort, and creating sustainable neighbourhood support around young children.

#EarlyYears #PlayMatters #CommunityOrganising #familysupport #parakeetplaygroup by @parakeet_playgroup_

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8 months ago

.Welcome to Parakeet Playgroup 🦜🌿

Welcome to our new Instagram space, especially for our early years community.

Parakeet Playgroup is inspired by Playwork, Reggio Emilia, and the long tradition of community playgroups in the UK - spaces created by communities who believed that children, childhood and connection mattered.

We see children as capable, curious and full of possibility. Children are meaning-makers, researchers and protagonists in their own lives, with a hundred ways of expressing, thinking, communicating and making sense of the world.

Our practice is rooted in play, relationships, listening and observation. We are interested in what happens when adults slow down, pay attention and become curious alongside children - rather than rushing to lead, direct or provide answers.

We think carefully about the environment as a teacher, creating spaces, materials and possibilities that invite children to explore, experiment, collaborate, take risks, revisit ideas and follow their own fascinations.

And we hold play as something powerful in its own right: freely chosen, self-directed and intrinsically motivated. A space where children can be themselves, make their own meanings and experience the freedom to play.

Here we’ll share observations, images, ideas, theories, provocations and fragments of practice - making visible some of the thinking that happens alongside children in our sessions.

A place to wonder together about children, play, childhood, learning, environments and community.

Welcome to Parakeet Playgroup.
Let’s see what we discover. 🦜 by @parakeet_playgroup_

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2 months ago

@parakeet_playgroup_ is tomorrow!

Come along for a morning of loose parts play and open-ended exploration for 0-7yrs. We set up free-flow play invitations inside and outside, so children can follow their curiosity and play their own way.

🌿 Mud kitchen 🏖️ Sandpit 🧩 Loose parts and creative play 🍎 Buttered toast, fruit and refreshments

It’s quality time together and a gentle, joyful way to end the week.

St Hilda’s Church Community Room, 269 Abbey Rd B67 5NR 9.30-11.15

£8.50 per child / £16 for two
www.bookwhen.com/parakeet taken in St Hilda's Church by @parakeet_playgroup_

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a month 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_playgroup_

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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_playgroup_

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13 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_playgroup_

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16 days ago

Today’s set up @parakeet_playgroup_ We had 65 children + adults playing today 😮‍💨 Thank you for coming along and supporting our community playgroup - we hope you had fun 🤩 taken in St Hilda's Church by @parakeet_playgroup_

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a month ago

What do you notice in all these marks made at @parakeet_playgroup_ ? 🍥💫🍭🌀

When young children first begin to make marks, spirals seem to appear everywhere.

Researcher John Matthews argues that children’s early marks are part of a “systematic investigation” of movement, space and representation. What adults may dismiss as scribbling is actually complex thinking made visible. They are investigating what their bodies and drawing tools can do. As shoulder, arm and wrist movements become coordinated, circular motions naturally develop into loops, circles and spirals.

Early childhood educator Ursula Kolbe describes a 23-month-old child who created a spiralling line with a paintbrush and immediately identified it as a snail. As Kolbe notes, with a single word the child demonstrated that he recognised a connection between his mark and his memory of a snail’s shell.

Spirals allow children to: ✨ Explore continuous movement and rhythm ✨ Develop fine and gross motor control ✨ Experiment with pattern and repetition ✨ Begin connecting marks with ideas, objects and experiences ✨ Discover that marks can represent meaning - an early form of writing and drawing

Spirals also appear throughout nature in shells, plants, weather systems and fingerprints, which may help explain why they are such a powerful and recurring form in children’s drawings.

These pages full of spirals collected over many playgroup sessions are children taking some of their first steps towards writing, drawing, symbol-making and creative thinking.

Sources
Matthews, J. (2003). Drawing and Painting: Children and Visual Representation.
Kolbe, U. (2007). Rapunzel’s Supermarket: All About Young Children’s Thinking.

#EarlyYears #MarkMaking #EarlyChildhoodEducation by @parakeet_playgroup_

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a month ago

We’re big fans of @theplaycycle’s homemade playdough and the two-handed fun of squishing it through a pasta maker 👌

We picked up our pasta makers from local charity shops and make sure they’re clamped firmly onto sturdy tables that children can stand at safely.

We have four set up around a round table, which helps reduce that sense of scarcity when there aren’t enough opportunities for everyone to play. The round table also encourages eye contact, conversation and parallel play - all while keeping those hands busy! #earlyyears #playwork by @parakeet_playgroup_

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a month ago

An outdoor play kitchen can be such a rich site for creativity, connection and belonging.

Nan takes a seat in the sun while little one gets busy making and delivering a very special cup of tea, carefully concocted from leaves, soil and sand. ☕️

There’s so much happening here. Imaginative play, sensory exploration, communication, negotiation, care, storytelling and the simple pleasure of doing something together.

We love an open door to outside, not just when the weather is warm and convenient, but all year round. Cold hands, muddy boots, sunshine, puddles and everything in between are part of childhood too.

And because outdoor play should be accessible to everyone, we have a little Welly Library too, a collection of boots to borrow for anyone who needs a pair.

Sometimes it’s the simplest invitations that create the richest possibilities: a kitchen, some natural loose parts, an open door, a pair of wellies and time to play with your favourite people. 🦜 taken in St Hilda's Church by @parakeet_playgroup_

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2 months ago

A simple supply of little loose parts can invite important tinkering by busy little hands.

And the benefits go far beyond the usual talk of fine motor skills and hand control.

There’s the two-hands thing - coordinating, manipulating, holding, balancing and working with both hands together.

There’s the meditative flow that can emerge from repetitive, purposeful busyness.

There’s trial and error. Testing an idea. Trying again. Changing tack. Discovering what happens.

There’s concentration; deep, sustained attention that isn’t demanded by an adult, but grows from the child’s own interest.

And there’s the quiet satisfaction of figuring something out for yourself.

This is the beauty of loose parts: simple materials, rich possibilities. by @parakeet_playgroup_

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2 months ago