» Stripy Nest - Starcatchers

I liked it all – I wanted to stay for longer

Child participant

The playground can sometimes be an intimidating and anxious experience for younger children, particularly those with additional support needs. Stripy Nest gave the children the opportunity to take the lead in creating a physical space that helped overcome some of these challenges – somewhere that promotes inclusive play, socialising and relationship-building.

The inspiration for this project, and its name, came from lead artist Kirstin Abraham’s seven-year-old son who is Autistic and has, at times, found the playground a difficult place to be. “He’s a wonderful little boy fascinated by the stripe patterns on Zebras, which like children, are all different. He needed somewhere he could feel calm and safe – a nurturing nest”, added Kirstin.

The project took place between June and October 2019 and saw 13 creative art sessions take place with three early year artists working with children aged 4-5 years old during the nursery and school day. The two ‘eggs’ and a social ‘nest’ were then unveiled on the 10th September with Children’s Minister Maree Todd. Read more here.

The artists and children explored a wide range of creative arts-based activities including: creative gardening; sculpture using clay, playdough and plasticine; outdoor drawing and painting; weaving; positive destruction sessions with a range of materials; and building proprioception-focused obstacle courses.

P1s unveil playground ‘nest’ with Minister

Nests unveiled by P1 pupils at Canal View Primary as part of a project with artists to help ease their transition from nursery garden to P1 payground
‘The wind changed our plan…’

Starcatchers’ Stripy Nest team give us an insight into the research phase of this community project to help nursery children feel more at ease in the playground when they make the transition into P1 We have been working with pre-school nursery children at Canal View Primary in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh, who will soon be making […]

Creative experiences with nests and weaving was a huge hit. You could see how happy they were, everyone was really engaged in the activity.

Canal View Primary Staff

There are loads of kids who need it. It’s a great idea, and if you could build a Stripy Nest in every school which was a safe space for kids, that would be brilliant.”

Canal View Deputy Head

Katy Wilson

Lead Artist, Wester Hailes

Katy works on Expecting Something and is creator of Mixed Up.

Kirstin Georgia Abraham

Associate Artist, Creative Approaches to ASN, Expecting Something and Play & Explore

Kirstin Georgia Abraham is a visual artist and play practitioner born in Gibraltar and currently based in Fife, Scotland.

Max Alexander

Max is a play worker, artist and consultant who specialises in working with children and young people who are disabled and/or have additional support needs.

About

Starcatchers is Scotland’s Arts and Early Years organisation. We believe in the transformational power of the arts to inspire Scotland’s youngest children and the adults who care for them.

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