”Chilhood is Play-hood”
A.S. Neill
At The Green House free play is seen as one of the most important aspects of a child’s emotional life and we aim to provide a space for this outside the home where exploration, and uninterrupted play are not always possible. Free play means that children are given the space to explore their environment at their own pace and in their own way. Under the guidence of experienced facilitators, this gives young children the chance to explore naturally the first separations with their caregivers, to discover their emerging sense of self and to experience the social world for the first time.
At this young age, both attachment and separation with the important people in their life must be carefully negotiated by both. At The Green House these important relationships are supported and nurtured giving babies and young children the opportunity to make their first small steps into the social space in a warm, and welcoming environment. The chance to negotiate their encounters with each other is also welcomed and the difficulties and pleasures that arise in meeting each other is given space to be explored.
Here, children have the freedom to express themselves in their own way. Their curiosity, sounds, speech, playing, and their relationships with others are listened to and acknowledged by the Welcomers. It is place for experimentation, for play, and for words. There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ at The Green House, and each child is recognised as their own person coming into the world in their own way. Instead, the group offers a few small limits to be noted; children must stay within the red line, and they must wear an apron to play with the water.
For the parents it is a time to meet others, relax, play with their children and share the experience of their growing family. The facilitators are there to listen and talk with parents about what concerns them, their experiences and difficulties, and to celebrate new moments together. The Green House is respectful of family identity and children have the chance to be slowly introduced to their own culture, the other cultures around them and the diverse community in which they live, whilst their individuality is welcomed and encouraged. This makes The Green House something of an in-between place: between the comfort of home and the newness of the outside world.
The Green House follows in the tradition of The Maison Verte, a playgroup created in Paris in the late 1970s by the French psychoanalyst and paediatrician Fraçoise Dolto. Following the form of Dolto’s Maison Verte the space is facilitated by ‘Welcomers’ who play and talk with the children and their families. Welcomers usually have a background in psychoanalysis. This means, in part, that we listen to the children’s questions, we welcome their play and are there for the parents to talk to in the early years of family life. In 2013 the first Maison Verte was founded in the UK where members of The Green House Playgroup trained and worked under the supervision of senior Maison Verte practitioners for 5 years.
We are also influenced by the work of Jacques Lacan (a close colleague of Dolto) and the Scottish pedagogue AS Neill who founded Summerhill School, a Democratic School for children between 7 and 16 years old.
We welcome all families to drop in without registration or bureaucracy.
Red Door Therapy 