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Have you ever wondered why we have baskets with glass pebbles, chains, wee bits lying about? This is called loose parts play and it was developed in the 1970’s by an architect called Simon Nicholson who wrote the paper How NOT to Cheat Children The Theory of Loose Parts (1971).

In this journal article, Nicholson described the thinking behind the theory as “In any environment, both the degree of inventiveness and creativity, and the possibility of discovery, are directly proportional to the number and kind of variables in it.”

Basically, the more wee bits we have in the nursery, the higher the level of creativity, theorising , trying out and innovative thinking . I would add to that the level of engagement also rises.

That box and packaging that came with your new item that the children have spent hours playing with? Loose parts

The stones and leaves that are lined up, rearranged, lined up again? Loose parts

Chains that are constantly dropped in and out of the tin can? Loose parts

And on, and on, and on …

Nicholson also describes creativity as “the playing around with the components and variables of the world in order to make experiments and discover new things and form new concepts.”  In nursery, this is reflected in the way we are process focused and not product driven. It is absolutely fine NOT to have something to take home at the end of the day. It is also ok for children to work on something the whole morning and then they knock it all down and tidy it away. Finding out what happens when…?, what if I…?, how does that…?, I wonder if…? are all creative thinking processes and the way children make sense of the world through active play and involvement. They have to make mistakes. They have to have space and time to make these mistakes and learn from them. They have to experience and feel the emotion from those mistakes to make it real. When you think back, how difficult is it to recall all the good experiences in our lives? Now flip that and try to recall all the mistakes and bad things that have happened. Probably a whole lot more come to mind because as adults, we remember how hurt/sad/upset/annoyed/disappointed we were at the time. Did you plan to repeat the experience? Probably not because you learned from it. This is what children do through play.

Play is the work of children and as they are apprentice learners in this world, they must be allowed to make mistake after mistake after mistake ( unless its dangerous of course!!) until they understand the consequences of particular actions and inactions. Simply telling them is not useful, they need to experience disappointment so that they can work things out and transfer that learning to other areas of their play.

Although we have multifunctional  and plastic construction toys such as lego in nursery, the loose part resources are always the most popular. I remember years ago being at a training day where we had to sit with our eyes closed while the trainer passed round three toys, a plastic duck, a plastic train and a plastic hoopla stack. We all held it for a few minutes and then passed it on, slightly bored. Next she passed round a pumice stone, a natural sponge and a lemon. Still with our eyes closed, we spent a lot longer using our senses to explore and investigate the items, raising lots of conversation and debate about them. The course was facilitated by people who worked with blind children and adults and posed the question about the value of plastic toys… they all felt, smelled, tasted and sounded the same. What play value did that have for children regardless of their abilities? That was over 20 years ago… and it still resonates with me today and my passion for sensory play was born.

So,we are about to raise the level of loose parts play. Nicholson talks about variables. These are materials, shapes, people, plants, sounds, music etc etc… aka wee bits!

Please take a few minutes to watch this youtube clip and see the potential for loose parts play/sensory learning.

We will be posting a wish list soon and hopefully you can help us gather resources.

Thanks!

Video by Nicole Root. http://www.explorationsplaystudio.com.