Early years is all about fostering children’s independence, imagination, communication and choice. Having a classroom which includes loose parts, rather than just pre-defined resources, does just that.
But the theory of loose parts is nothing new. It was first proposed in the 1970s by Simon Nicholson, who believed in their ability to empower creativity. Loose parts theory is about giving children the best opportunity to learn through play by giving them things that allow them to play in many different ways. Loose parts are infinitely more stimulating and engaging than pre-defined objects.
What are loose parts?
Loose parts are a quantity of an object, for example conkers, buttons, or shells. I steer towards natural objects because of the variety of colours, textures, weight, and because they are mainly free!
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