It`s been much too long since my last blog!! The start of term is always busy, busy, busy but now things have settled down a little here goes. Over the summer I read a lot about Loose Parts Play and really liked the idea of introducing it to my Year 1 class.
“Loose parts are materials that can be moved, carried, combined, redesigned, lined up, and taken apart and put back together in multiple ways. They are materials with no specific set of directions that can be used alone or combined with other materials.
Loose parts can be natural or synthetic. and the idea is that often you will find that children would rather play with materials that they can use and adapt as they please, rather than expensive pieces of play equipment. Encouraging children to use resources as they choose can provide a wider range of opportunities than one that is purely adult led. Children playing with loose parts are using more creativity and imagination and developing more skill and competence than they would playing with most modern plastic toys.” – http://www.readingplay.co.uk/
During our work on Picasso, which covers art and history during this half term I have started to slowly introduce some loose parts activities to see how they go and had some great results. I did give the suggestion that children could create portraits with the materials on this particular occasion so it wasn’t strictly as opened ended as the theory intends. But it was still a popular activity that kept children concentrated for long periods of time and lead to lots of discussion and opportunities to evaluate and adapt their work. Watch this space for bigger, better, and more creative coming soon.