Many years ago, I was fortunate enough to spend the day in the company of Tim Gill who took me on a magical tour of the Kate Greenaway Nursery and Glamis Adventure Playground. Our final destination was a temporary pop up community play space which oozed wonderful wood and pallet constructions – the Canning Town Caravanserai. It was designed as a welcoming oasis, hosted by locals, open to all visitors. It was a locally driven public space bringing together trade and training, performance, a community garden and a place to eat, drink and play. This blog post captures the ideas which are timeless and transferable to the education and play sectors. It is projects like this that have fuelled my personal passion for DIY “skinted not minted” approaches to developing outdoor play spaces.

What I loved about the place was its makeshift feel. Lots of students have had internships working on different structures. There were stalls, sheds, a seesaw, sandpit, the longest table in London and even a temporary cafe.

There seems to be a trend at the moment for upcycling and repurposing wooden pallets. But here at the Caravanserai, the rustic outdoor uses were what I found appealing and transferable to a school or back garden. I rather like the pebble store below. If you look in the distance hay bales have been used as temporary seating.

Minibeast hotels are becoming popular projects in many schools. What is important is to site one near other habitats which minibeasts will like and use such as putting it on soil, near shrubs, beside long grass and under a native tree.

Several bird feeders had also been made from scrap wood such as this one:

But there are other fabulous uses for palettes too. For example, should you need a raised bed, then have a look at this solution. The area underneath the raised bed is a useful storage facility. A couple of years later a similar structure was present at Highway Farm Outdoor Nursery which had made their feature secure and strong enough to be used as a den.

For me, the best part of the Caravanserai pallet project had to be this corner of the grounds. The palettes have been stacked up and down to create a really attractive feature. I think this would suit many schools who may want to experiment with temporary features before committing to something permanent.

This means that children can be actively involved in creating a structure with appropriate supervision and support. It is a construction project with real purpose. I also really liked the integration of raised beds into the feature. I think greenery, gardens and play work effectively together.

On the walls around the palette feature are wall boxes which can be planted up. The raised beds are interesting as some have been placed directly on top of the palettes. Whilst others have been sunk into the palettes. I think this helped make the feature stable. Nothing moved when you walked up and over it. Although there was a pleasant bouncy sensation.

I know a lot of educators may have reservations about using palettes in schools. However, like everything else, it’s perfectly fine with a little thought and planning which can be done through using a risk benefit assessment. If you are worried about splinters then the wood can be sanded down. If you look in the photo below, you can see that artificial grass rolls have been placed over a couple of the palettes. This can also help cover rough bits. I tend to check any palette before using and either remove any sticking out nails or hammer them down to a point where they are sufficiently flattened.

What also works is that this feature provides variations in height which can be hard to find in a flat tarmac playground. The individual palettes can be used for mini displays and small world play as the boy in the photo below is demonstrating. Every rock gathered has been carefully placed to create interest and it was like a miniature museum of specimens!

Finally, many of the sheds and structures had corrugated clear plastic roofing. Above one table, material had been added underneath this – adding weight but also creative interest as the sun filters through:

I would be interested to know of other uses of palettes in schools, more out of curiosity than anything else.  Please do let me know if your school has been “paletting” in some form or other.

Finally if you are looking for information about the safety and suitability of pallets for your projects, have a look at Pallet 1001’s advice here.

This blog post was originally published in November 2012.