Blog Archives

Learning with Loose Parts

4/27/2018

In a world where we are preparing our children for all kinds of unknown professions, it is important to engage children's curiosity and their natural joy for learning. This love of learning along with communication skills, self regulation skills, and the ability to problem solve leads to life long success no matter the profession. Some might think that learning these skills will only happen behind a desk in a typical school environment, but Dimensions Educational Research Foundation's research tells us that children who spend time in well designed, nature filled classrooms with many opportunities to engage with open ended materials and loose parts develop skills across all learning domains.

For generations children have used found materials in their play from rocks and sticks to tin cans and wire. In his article “How NOT to Cheat Children: the Theory of Loose Parts,” the British architect Simon Nicholson coined the term “loose parts” to describe open-ended materials that can be used and manipulated in many ways. Environments, he believed, offer many ways for children to interact with variables such as gravity, sounds, chemical reactions, concepts, words, and people. “In any environment,” Nicholson writes, “both the degree of inventiveness and creativity, and the possibility of discovery, are directly proportional to the number and kind of variables in it”. When children play and create with loose parts, they can move around, making use of any or all of the found objects, devising spaces and structures that can entertain them for hours. They become more creative and flexible in their thinking while satisfying their ever-growing curiosity and love for learning.

In our blog this month 'Learning with Loose Parts' we are highlighting how we introduce and incorporate loose parts into our learning environment with lots of ideas and projects to inspire families to include loose parts in their art and play environments at home. We love to focus on loose parts in April as it's Earth Day month and so many of loose parts are found objects, nature materials, or recycled items - who needs plastic toys??

When first introducing loose parts we like to provide 3 different open-ended items for the children to to create and play with along with the invitation of "I wonder what we could do with these...". Here are a few combinations of what we explored:

Felt Scraps, Popsicle Sticks, and Glitter Glue

"I'm making a boat, a big boat for my whole family."

"It's sparkly! I love glitter glue!"

Tin Foil, Wood Cubes, and Pipe Cleaners

"It's a robot with a robot motorcycle. It goes fast and it has super powers!"

Straws, Yarn, and Washi Tape

"Look at my magic wand!"

Once the kids were clearly comfortable with 3 materials, we started introducing 5 materials to expand the experience.

Buttons, Wire, Tape, Paper Clips, and Ribbon

Clay, Spaghetti, Corks, Pebbles, and Yarn

Collecting, Discovering, and Organizing Materials

After lots of exploring loose parts that the classroom provided, we wanted to investigate what it means to children when they have sought out, discovered, and collected materials themselves.

Each child went home with a paper bag with their name on it and instructions for what types of materials to look for to further study how materials can fuel ideas and thinking.

We gathered in a circle and invited the children to empty their bags one at a time and share any stories or thoughts about the items they collected.

Here is an example of a Developmental Checklist from Fairy Dust Teaching on things to look for while children are playing with loose parts:

TOTE, CARRY, AND PILE

Picks up loose parts and explores it.
Transports loose parts from one location to another.
Drops loose parts into containers.
Gathers loose parts in a container.
Pushes containers of loose parts from one location to another.
Can shovel or scoop up loose parts.
Can pour loose parts from one container to another.

SHAPE & FORM

Lines up loose parts make a vertical or horizontal line.
Stacks 7 or more loose parts.
Orders loose parts by some common attribute (color, size, shape, texture, etc.).
Sorts loose parts by common attribute (color, size, shape, texture, etc.)
Moves loose parts into racing or flying.
Names the loose parts creation or use.

ATTENTION TO DETAIL

Creates enclosures with loose parts.
Builds structures vertically and horizontally.
Writes and/or draws about loose parts creation.
Creates intentional structures with clear purpose or idea.
Creates detailed settings with loose parts.

SYMMETRY AND ASYMMETRY

Has a distinct theme to the play with loose parts.
Uses loose parts to help define play role
Uses loose parts to create and execute an elaborate idea.
Can transform any loose part into a specific use and purpose in a larger play theme or theory.

After exploring and playing with the collected items the children came up with categories that we could sort the items into. We separated the items into: paper, metal, plastic, nature, ceramic, cloth/ribbons/yarn, and wood.

As they make decisions about each object and what category it fits, children are learning about the characteristics of different materials and using a rich descriptive vocabulary.

After the organizing stage we created open ended projects with one type of part at a time and then participated in projects where we used all the loose parts together.

Constructing with Wood Scraps

Working with wood scraps and recycled paper materials invites experimental building, thinking in three dimensions, and thinking about space.

The freedom to experiment invites creative and often collaborative solutions. When the children first started constructing they had no definitive goal in mind, but as the process developed they began to form a consensus of what they were making together. They titled this "Our Spaceship Boat!".

Loose Parts from Nature

We classified our nature items into categories: things that came from plants, things that came from animals, and things that did not come from living things.

We also explored how we could use our nature items in play - rocks became homes, leaves became airplanes, and avocado seeds became birds eggs.

Metal Configurations

As the children continue to explore the "metal things", the objects gleam and glisten and the children begin to notice subtle differences in shape, color, and texture.

The children are delighted to see how easily objects can transform into facial features.

Exploring circles!

Once the children seemed fluent in the different materials we began some theme-based yet still open ended projects.

DIY Robots with Loose Parts

To make the beginning structure of the robot we wrapped floral foam with tin foil and connected the pieces with small bamboo skewers.

"My robot can turn his head!"

Then we added all kinds of found materials. Most objects can easily be inserted through the tin foil and into the foam. We used glue and stickers for other designs.

To extend the project, some of us made drawings of our robots too!

Self Portrait Collages with Loose Parts

The children were delighted to continue to find items they had personally collected as well as new objects they had never seen before as we engaged in the different projects.

Letters and Numbers

The final collaborative project was to create the alphabet and the numbers 1 to 10 with our collected and sorted loose parts.

Dandelion Flower Cookies

One of the children brought in fresh dandelion flowers from their garden at home so we made our scrumptious dandelion cookies. Check out our previous blog for the recipe.

Some other simple loose parts to introduce to children are:

Velcro Rollers

Large Blocks

Sand!

Earth Day!

To celebrate Earth Day we created a collaborative piece where the children formed "earth beads" and decorated our window with them.

Yoga and Mindfulness

We have been incorporating more mindfulness activities into our yoga classes:

Magic Massage
Self massage is restorative. Magic Massage stimulates the blood flow to the brain which helps improve concentration skills, while the muscle massage soothes and releases tension.

Washing Machine

Allow your arms to be loose and floppy so that they wrap around the front and back of your body as you turn side to side. Notice if there is something you would like to wash out - anger, hurt, feelings, worries? As you swing from side to side, imagine you can feel those things being washed out and away from your body and down into the ground.

Volcano

Such a fun way to release tension, negativity, or excess energy! With your hands in front of your heart notice if you are carrying around any anger or excess energy inside. Let it bubble up out of your heart into your hands. With an exhale forcefully explode your volcano, making the sound "Pssssh!". Imagine the hot lava leaving your body and mind.

Do My Best

Lift your left knee to your right elbow. Lower and switch sides. As you continue from side to side repeat the following song:

"Opposite elbow,
Opposite knee.
I stand up strong,
just like a tree.
I use my mind,
and body,
and breath,
To focus myself,
and do my BEST!"

This movement crosses the midline of the body and coordinates the information flow between both sides of the brain.