A simple plastic bottle, tin cans, scraps of wood, pieces of pipe and some string were all items around Mrs Paterson's house which were bound for landfill before she turned them into playground equipment for preschoolers at the Dunedin Gymnastics Centre.
Now Mrs Paterson (79) has written a book, Gymfun Gear from Junk and Throwaways, which shows parents how to transform "recyclable" material around their house into toys, such as plastic hoops, stilts, skittles and even games of T-ball.
"The great thing is, you can tailor-make the toys for kids of all ages and sizes."
Mrs Paterson said she was inspired to write the book after noticing the problems of increasingly inactive children during her career as a physical education teacher in schools, a lecturer in physical education at the Dunedin College of Education and a gymnastics coach for nearly 40 years.
The number of preschoolers who were growing up with poor flexibility, balance and hand-eye co-ordination was increasing because they did not engage in enough physical play, she said.
"Kids need to fall over to learn body management skills."
It was hoped the playground equipment she had created for preschoolers at the gymnastics centre would create not only better gymnasts, but better "all round" sports people, she said.
"The kids love it. It just goes to show kids can have a lot of fun without spending money."
