Loose Parts – Let the Children lead the way
This is a very interesting article on loose parts and their role in children’s play and very much reflects the way we attempt to enable play and learning at playgroup.
I’ll try to summarise for those of you who don’t have time to read the whole article. Loose parts is the buzz phrase these days for all the odds and ends and assorted junk that kids just love to play with. They are not toys, they can be sticks, stones, buttons, corks, you name it and children will change it into anything they want it to be. That is the beauty, and learning, in loose parts, children imagine what they want and come up with ideas and games that adults just wouldn’t conceive of. Toys tend to “dictate” play, they suggest to children what they should be doing, a slide is for sliding, a swing for swinging, a pram for pushing a dolly in etc. Yet, how often do we see children playing with something in a completely different way to we adults anticipate? Yesterday at playgroup, for example, we watched the children fill watering cans and pans with water and pour them down the ball run – which was made to run balls down. Allowing children to think their own thoughts and make their own play stimulates much greater learning. Children make up rules, negotiate, share, communicate, help each other – all on their own. Adults don’t get involved in this play – well we try not to – children take the lead, or drive their own learning, and with them in charge they will take their learning further (and often in a completely different direction) that often we anticipate.