The Outdoor Clothing Box is Being Trialled

Back in January I blogged about a Try Before You Buy outdoor clothing box. A local teacher, Judy, got in touch and kindly offered to trial one of the primary school boxes. So yesterday I popped into the school and chatted to the class about the clothes and ideas. You can see how they are getting on over at Judy's blog, Find us Outside.

In addition to the photos on Judy's blog, the class are also feeding back directly to me via the blog post on my official Creative STAR website. I've really enjoyed the first batch of comments which the children have written in their friendly and candid manner - demonstrating very appropriate use of language on a blog.

What interests me is that the children are feeding back information that I didn't expect. This includes how the clothes feel, their fit, which ones are waterproof, etc. It's already confirmed my gut instinct that children really do need to be involved in the process of choosing suitable outdoor clothing for a school or nursery. They have a valuable perspective, a lot of common sense and will be able to make informed decisions about what clothing to buy.

Next, if you look at the photos on Judy's blog, the children haven't all picked matching jackets and trousers. Some have chosen to mix 'n' match. I see this with the children with whom I work too. In fact certain children take great delight in choosing different clothes to wear each week and try out. Others always choose their favourite colour.  Perhaps the trick is to go for a variety of outdoor clothing rather than one large set of the same clothes. I know this is more time consuming to order and a bit more expensive. There's also the "equity" issue of every child having the same, yet I feel this is redundant in that children tend to come to school with a variety of different outdoor clothes and accessories.

So there's four boxes available for local schools and nurseries to borrow. Please let me know if you are interested in borrowing one.