Loose parts play

Our environment is resourced with loose parts indoors and outdoors - objects and materials with no specific set of directions which can be used alone or combined and which can be used in more than one way - you'll find very few 'toys'.

Loose parts play promotes a positive attitude to learning - there is no right way to do things -and encourages children to be flexible in their thinking - they develop their own ideas and strategies and apply their learning to new situations


All areas of learning and development are supported -


The 3 prime areas of learning


  • Communication and language

Narrating play, negotiating, learning new words and extending their vocabulary, explaining and sharing ideas

  • Physical development

Using their small muscles to move, stack, build, to pick up, pinch and press and their bigger muscles to lift, pull, push and carry as well as to develop and strengthen their physical coordination.

  • Personal, social and emotional development

Cooperation, collaboration and negotiation, devising their own rules for games, decision making, developing confidence and self-esteem - there is no right or wrong answer or way to play.

and the 4 specific areas


  • Maths

Counting, matching, sorting, comparing, estimating, measuring, shape, position and problem solving and then incorporating these skills in other aspects of play.

  • Literacy

Props and costumes to act and re-tell stories in their own words

  • Understanding the world

Discovering the properties of materials and how they can be changed, how and why things work, experimenting with cause and effect

  • Expressive arts and design

Loose parts can become anything...!