Plastic Free July: what have we lost as childhood became more plastic?

Plastic has made our lives easier. Lightweight, practical and easy to clean, it is no surprise that it has become part of everyday family life. Little by little, it has found its way into almost every corner of childhood: at mealtimes, at playtime, in bedrooms, bathrooms and playrooms.

As plastic has become woven into the world around our children, we have gained convenience and practicality. But what have we given up?

Perhaps part of the answer lies in the variety of materials children encounter. Wood, stone, metal, glass, wool and cotton each have their own weight, temperature, texture and character. As plastic has taken on more and more roles in everyday life, some of that variety has naturally diminished.

Plastic Free July gives us an opportunity to notice the physical world surrounding our children and consider how we might bring some of that variety back.

A world discovered through the senses

Long before children can describe the world, they experience it through their senses. They touch, grasp, crawl, climb, listen and smell. Through these everyday interactions they discover differences in texture, temperature, weight, shape and resistance, gradually building an understanding of the physical world around them.

Nature is extraordinarily rich in these differences. Wood has grain and knots, stone can feel unexpectedly heavy or cold, wool has fibres and cork has texture and natural variation. Water runs through fingers while sand shifts under weight. Leaves change from soft and flexible to dry and brittle. Natural materials change with use and age too: wood develops marks, fabric softens and cork gradually develops a patina.

Children don't need these experiences to be turned into organised sensory activities. They encounter them naturally when they dig in sand, paddle in water, collect stones on the beach, grow herbs on a windowsill or bring an interesting pinecone home from the park. Much of the sensory richness children need is already around them.

How plastic became part of everyday childhood

There are good reasons plastic became so successful. It can be lightweight, durable, affordable, washable and moulded into an extraordinary range of shapes and colours. Its versatility transformed the things we could make and, for families, brought products that were practical, accessible and easy to look after.

These qualities made plastic particularly suited to family life. Over time, it became commonplace in everything from toys and feeding equipment to furniture, storage, bath products and play surfaces, often taking the place of materials that were heavier, more fragile or more expensive. The result is subtle: very different objects can now feel surprisingly similar in a child's hands. A cup, a toy, a chair and a play surface may serve entirely different purposes while sharing much the same smooth, uniform finish. The convenience is undeniable, but there is value in making room for other materials alongside it.

That is where Plastic Free July becomes interesting. It gives us a reason to notice something that has become almost invisible through familiarity and to consider where greater material variety could have a place in family life.

Bringing more nature into ordinary family life

Bringing natural materials into childhood doesn't require an immaculate nursery filled with expensive wooden toys. Some of the simplest things offer enormous possibilities. Cardboard boxes become houses, trains and dens; cotton blankets become tents; wooden spoons migrate from the kitchen into imaginative play. Outdoors, children can explore materials that behave completely differently from anything manufactured: sand that shifts, mud that changes with water, sticks that bend and stones that vary in weight, shape and temperature.

We can also consider materials when we genuinely need to buy or replace something. Using children's belongings for longer, repairing what can be repaired, choosing second-hand and passing things on when they are outgrown all reduce the demand for new things. When we do buy something new, material, durability and what will happen to the item at the end of its useful life can become part of the decision.

Children can participate in these choices as they grow. Sorting recycling, carrying a reusable bottle, growing herbs or vegetables, looking after their possessions and choosing toys to pass on all make environmental responsibility part of ordinary family life rather than simply something adults tell them is important.

Childhood happens on the floor

There is one part of the home that young children experience much more closely than adults: the floor. Babies lie and roll on it, learn to push themselves up and eventually crawl across it. Toddlers sit, build, climb and tumble there. As children grow, floor play evolves into building Lego, drawing, reading, puzzles, imaginary worlds and family games.

That observation sits at the heart of Corkademy. When so much early childhood happens at floor level, it seemed natural to think about the material children would actually be touching. Cork offered something different: a warm, gently textured and naturally varied surface that was also practical enough for everyday family life. Our movement and play mats bring those qualities to a surface children may spend hours crawling, sitting, building and playing on.

It is a small choice, but one children experience directly. And perhaps that is the wider point of Plastic Free July: we don't have to transform the whole house to bring more material variety into childhood. We can simply become more aware of what children touch, play with and move across every day, and choose natural materials where they make sense.

Plastic Free July gives us a reason to notice those choices. To think not only about what we throw away, but what we buy, what we keep, what we pass on and what we place into our children's hands.

Perhaps bringing a little more nature into childhood can begin there.