Loose Parts

7/29/2021

"If you can light the spark of curiosity in a child, they will learn without any further assistance." -Sir Ken Robinson

We have always been amazed by how even the simplest of objects can inspire hours of play in our children. Children love to play with objects that can stimulate their creativity and curiosity, and we believe in encouraging this natural exploration is to provide children with a variety of objects to experiment with in their play. We call these materials "loose parts", and had so much fun getting to play with loose parts this month!

What are loose parts? Loose parts can be any found object that children can use to combine, remake, take apart, move, and manipulate. The beauty of this type of play is that there is no "right way" to use the loose parts, they can be used in any combination, and their creations can become anything the child imagines. Loose parts have infinite possibilities that encourages conversation and innovation that can create a lifetime of skills in children.

We also love that loose parts are often natural and recycled materials! We can find so many materials at our fingertips: found objects, recycled items, and nature items.

We use an inquiry based approach as we start exploring loose parts with our children:

Remembering: What is this called?
Understanding: Which part do you think...?
Applying: How would you use...?
Analyzing: What are you creating?
Evaluating: What would happen if...?
Creating: What is your finished result?

String, Beads, and Buttons

As an introduction to loose parts, we began with using three familiar materials for kids to explore and create with.

Popsicle Sticks, Clips, Paper, and Felt

“I’m making a boat!”

Paper Plate Art

We continued our exploration with loose parts by slowly adding more materials now that the kids felt comfortable using them.

"I'm making a path on my plate."

Clay, Buttons, and Popsicle Sticks

Air-dry clay was a great addition to our loose parts play exploration, as it can be shaped into any way we want to! The kids loved pushing their imaginations even further.

"I made a rocket ship!"

Combining Materials

After lots of exploring, we could begin using different combinations of loose parts they were familiar with and new ones. Even with the same materials, there were always new ideas!

"Our pieces can go together!"

Loose Parts in Play

Loose part learning was also happening during our every day play, from building blocks to creating new objects.

Curiosity Fun!

Our kids are always curious about the world around them and wanting to know more. Using loose parts is just one of the many ways we can encourage that curiosity. We talked lots this months about birds and insects, using binoculars, books, and magnifying glasses to see them up close.

Because loose parts invites kids to conversation and interactivity, it's also seen that loose parts leads kids to enjoy collaboration and cooperation!