Loose Parts Play
Why loose parts play is excellent for early learning.
BY HEJIRA CONVERY, KINDICARE
Young children collect toys like philatelists collect stamps, and although factory-made playthings may be entertaining and educational, it’s worth remembering that your under-five doesn’t necessarily need a trillion toys to have a good time.
A basic cardboard box can be famously engaging in the early years, and there are loads of other cheap and cheerful non-toy options.
Things like pebbles, pine cones, pegs and pipe cleaners are endlessly interesting for little learners, and these kinds of ‘loose parts’ hold their own as quality playthings.
Actually, ‘loose parts play’ is really beneficial for young children, and it’s built on a theory that was first brainstormed half a century ago.
Back in 1972, an architect and artist called Simon Nicholson came up with ‘The Theory of Loose Parts.’
He suggested that all people, including little people, can play a role in constructing culture, and said that having lots of loose parts in an environment encourages more creativity, discovery and inventiveness.
In the decades since Simon first aired his theory, plenty of early childhood educators (and parents) have introduced loose parts into children’s play.
These open-ended materials can be natural or human-made, and, in practice, loose parts play just means that children get to decide how they’ll move, stack, arrange, assemble, disassemble and generally use different loose parts.
There are no instructions, and little learners are given the freedom to play with loose parts as they please, either independently or in collaboration with their peers.
Everton Park Child Care and Development Centre is one service where loose parts play is a big – and very positive – part of the early learning curriculum.
This Brisbane service has been rated Excellent by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority three times running, and its successful focus on loose parts has developed over time.
Centre Director, Jon Webb, tell us that he was always interested in loose parts, but introduced this kind of play with care and consideration.
Jon says, “Loose parts now play a major role in our curriculum and daily experience, however, reaching this point has been a carefully managed and gradual process over a number of years.”
“We started by adding some loose parts to our outdoor environments and observed how the children interacted with them.”
“As time went on, we continued to add to the selection of loose parts that were in our outdoor play space, then around five years ago, we decided to hold a ‘No Toy Week’ to coincide with Outdoor Classroom Day.”
Jon explains that, “For the whole week, traditional toys were banned from our outdoor environments in favour of loose parts.”
“At the end of this week, all educators and children were asked to reflect on those five days, and with so many benefits discovered and no negatives identified, toys were never reintroduced to the outdoor environment!”
Jon says, “Since then, our loose parts play has grown considerably, and both children and educators have continued to extend this approach throughout all environments within our service.”
Loose parts play gives early learners a sense of agency and creative freedom, and at Everton Park Child Care and Development Centre, it has been brilliant for children’s development and education.
Educators have seen increased perseverance in children as they play with loose parts more and more, Jon says, “Since we first started exploring the approach, we have seen the whole cohort of children becoming more collaborative with children from all age groups, working together on projects and explorations that are based around loose parts.”
There’s also no more fighting over toys, and lots more creative thinking.
Jon says, “We have seen a drastic reduction in conflict between children wishing to use the same piece of equipment or resource, and a reduction in other undesirable behaviours.”
“The children have shown a major increase in their imagination, and now demonstrate an increased ability to create play experiences based off their own ideas.”
More than five years after loose parts play was slowly introduced, everyone at Everton Park Child Care and Development Centre is sold on loose parts play, and we’re pleased to report that this kind of hands-on learning is something all children can experience.
Many early learning services offer loose parts for play, and it’s easy to roll them out at home, too.
Materials like shells, seed pods, leaves, sticks, poms poms, string, wool, pegs, fabric scraps, buttons, wooden blocks, toilet rolls and lots of other everyday items can be repurposed as playthings, though you do need to think about your child’s age when offering little pieces.
Small loose parts, like buttons and beads, can be a choking risk for babies and young children, so stick to bigger items if your child is under three or likes to ‘mouth’ little objects.
You can buy ready-made loose part kits in different colours and themes, but there’s lots of fun to be had foraging for items at home, in the park, at the beach and beyond.
