How to Use Loose Items for Your Child? Part 2

Let’s dive into four sections within a classroom that help to foster and develop skills while learning and integrating Loose Parts Play.

Dramatic area

Examples of Loose Parts Play items: recycled materials (cereal box, pizza box, egg carton, tissue boxes etc.), blankets, animals, toy people figure, cars, kitchen pots etc. All these items can be transformed and manipulated to be something else. For instance, if we pick a theme such as transportation, a box can be transformed into a train, an egg carton can be created into a stop light, and a pizza box/cereal box can be used as a parking garage. Every item can have a superior purpose beyond its daily use when it comes to Loose Parts Play.

Benefit: Helps the development of language skills when using imagination and taking lead in play. It will also build social skills while interacting with peers. Children take turns playing different roles in life (teacher, parent, mail man etc.), which provides insight on social roles and responsibilities. This harvests critical thinking when troubleshooting different scenarios or fixing items. It also allows for creative problem-solving skills and sharing responsibility which occurs during dramatic play. Above all this is an opportunity for children to imagine and be creative while having fun.

Art Area

Examples of Loose Parts Play items: clay, cornstarch, paint, leaves, beads, straws, popsicle sticks, pom poms etc. A blank canvas can be used to paste different Loose Parts to create a collage. Items can also be used within art pieces to represent different things, like sticks and leaves to create people and straw and beads to make plants.

Benefit: Helps children to develop motor skills, language development, improve decision making, visual learning, creativity, inventiveness and so much more.

Children learn to develop fine motor skills by holding the paintbrush, scribing, scissor use etc. Children develop language when learning about different shapes, colors, and learn to follow directions when using the different items while creating art. It takes a lot of time to make choices when creating art, and children can learn to develop problem solving and critical thinking skills when engaging in art activities especially when they are open ended. Visually, children can learn to draw, sculpt, bead on a string, and learn visual spatial skills. Children take risks in creating art using their creativity and inventiveness.

Block/Building area

Examples of Loose Parts Play items: Anything that can be stacked is a good tool for building. Wooden blocks, twigs, boxes, bowls, toilet paper rolls, sponges etc. Sponges can be used to be stacked into a tower, boxes can be arranged to make a life-size house or maze, toilet paper rolls can be use also to build a tower or car track.

Benefit: Helps to develop gross and fine motor skills, spatial reasoning, hand eye coordination, dexterity, problem solving, and the beginning development of math and science. Shifting, stretching, holding, and grabbing movements are used to build things using the child’s strength. Developing spatial reasoning occurs when identifying how to piece and fit the different blocks together as well as using different shapes, spaces and directions. Hand eye coordination is used to control where placing the different pieces together using their hands and fingers while using touch and sight. It takes a lot of trial and error to build or create the child's structure which helps to develop problem solving skills. Children can identify shapes names, compare sizes of blocks, colors of blocks and combine shapes of the blocks to create new shapes which is thus learning math at an early, and science.

Sensory Area

Examples of Loose Parts Play items: Any item that helps to develop and enhance an experience using the child’s 5 senses is key in sensory play. Beans, pom poms, rice, water, buttons, moss, fuzzy fabric, flower petals, shells, grass, etc. A child can use the petals or grass to feel the soft texture while also using their sense of smell. Different textures that are rough or soft are associated with touch sensory. Water play creates sound when the water splashes and creates ripples in the water which is associated with sight.

Benefit: Sensory exploration, developing fine motor skills, hand strengthening, social skills increased, language development, and academic skills. Develop social skills and team work when children learn to work together in communicating through play. Cooperative work in sensory bins between different children help to also increase language development. Academic skills will be learnt as children learn different concepts such as numbers, shapes, sizes etc.