Wk 12 Loose parts
Have you ever noticed that if you leave old junk lying around, children will almost inevitably play with it? Whether it be old cardboard boxes, wooden pallets, pieces of wood, old tyres, bits of rope or string, children will use their imagination and ingenuity to make something. When children have access to loose parts, it frees their creativity and imagination to change the world around them in infinite ways. The more flexible are the materials in their environment, the greater the level of creativity and inventiveness they express. This experience for the children is invaluable. Loose parts are materials with no specific set of directions, and they can be used alone or together with other materials. The child, rather than a manufacturer or other adult, determines how the materials are used. This week the children have spent hours up in the shaded wildlife garden moving, carrying, combining, redesigning, lining up, taken apart, and putting back together in multiple ways.
