[Casey Redman speaking]

The magic play box is a concept that we came up with to allow schools to trial a loose parts play model. It's a large fruit box that was donated from a local orchard and we filled it with items that have been recycled or repurposed.

[Greg Gurau speaking]

Might be tires, bits of wood, pellets, old pipes, chairs, rope, and let the children play with it to utilize their imagination, ingenuity.

[Shea Coxson speaking]

When you're at school there are certain things that you gravitate towards, it might be sport, it might be the playground. The play pod introduces something new it gives them opportunities to try new things and just develop new ways of playing.

[Paul O’Leary Ryan]

It arrived last week and yeah, they just got into it, and started building, and creating and imagining with it.

[Casey Redman speaking]

The benefits for the kids is having non structured play of being able to create their own imagination around how to utilize a piece of recycled material for a play purpose. 

[Api Heemi speaking]

And it's usually the kids that don't shine, you know they're just happy to hang back, and then all a sudden you give them something different and they just go crazy, and the stuff they made was pretty amazing, you know, we've seen boats, we've seen cars, and big houses, and just listening to the kids talk about what they've made, it is been really cool.

[Karen Wellington speaking]

The biggest part for us is that social learning and learning how to work with other people.

[Meg Waghorn speaking]

So you might have someone who's got a lot of physical skills who's then playing with someone who might have all the ideas for the social play so they can bring those together in interesting ways.

[Karen Wellington speaking]

And they make me laugh. I am out on duty and I'm cracking up laughing because they're doing such cool things.  

[Api Heemi speaking]

Out of all the schools, I think we've had four put permanent loose part storage in. Others have done things like redesign the outdoor areas for kids.

Yeah it's been really successful. 

[Greg Gurau speaking]

It puts a big smile on my face, and an even bigger smile in my face when the teachers see what comes out of it, and that's what's magic about the magic play box.