In praise of the Loose Parts Life
In setting up a block play area, loose parts are the bits and bobs, different from the blocks themselves, that add color and texture to the child's build.
Materials such as pine cones, fabric scraps, buttons, etc, sized and curated appropriately for the child's age and developmental level, encourage imaginative play and creative thinking.
Plastitack can hold things in place temporarily, and then be pulled off for later reuse.
But wait, there's more! Adult life has loose parts too.
Our closets are examples of a loose parts system.
Our homes are often decorated in a loose parts way, by focusing on a holiday or a season for a few weeks, or posting cards on the refrigerator.
Our kitchen tools and our ingredients fit this frame.
Let your unfinished artwork, your abandoned knitting, your piece drawn wrong, your supplies from crafts you no longer explore, let all these become loose parts. They aren't examples of your laziness (lazy isn't a thing, anyway) or your short attention span. And you don't have to keep everything.
Thinking of them as loose parts frees you to explore how one thing can change into another. This can be calming, when faced with moments such as
a puppy chewing up the arm protector of the new couch: a felt and embroidered flower that didn't work as a brooch did beautifully to mend the rip
a dated but beloved painting making the room feel stagnant: a paper cutout pinned to the edge changes its whole vibe
Everything's temporary, and that makes life important.
Materials such as pine cones, fabric scraps, buttons, etc, sized and curated appropriately for the child's age and developmental level, encourage imaginative play and creative thinking.
Plastitack can hold things in place temporarily, and then be pulled off for later reuse.
But wait, there's more! Adult life has loose parts too.
Our closets are examples of a loose parts system.
Our homes are often decorated in a loose parts way, by focusing on a holiday or a season for a few weeks, or posting cards on the refrigerator.
Our kitchen tools and our ingredients fit this frame.
Let your unfinished artwork, your abandoned knitting, your piece drawn wrong, your supplies from crafts you no longer explore, let all these become loose parts. They aren't examples of your laziness (lazy isn't a thing, anyway) or your short attention span. And you don't have to keep everything.
Thinking of them as loose parts frees you to explore how one thing can change into another. This can be calming, when faced with moments such as
a puppy chewing up the arm protector of the new couch: a felt and embroidered flower that didn't work as a brooch did beautifully to mend the rip
a dated but beloved painting making the room feel stagnant: a paper cutout pinned to the edge changes its whole vibe
Everything's temporary, and that makes life important.
Song Illustrations
Print out a picture of an adult build, adhere onto cardstock, write names of one or more songs you and your child like to sing together. A physical way to choose a song helps you think of one of the many songs you know. It's also a pre-reading activity. This build can illustrate any song about trains, including improvised ones.
My original story is meant to go with Froebel Gifts' knitted balls, Box 1.
I've revised it a bit since originally producing it as a movie (and made a physical book for our new baby granddaughter). The illustrations here are photographs of the pages.
Inspired by the toddler class
Because adults and 2 year olds throw No at each other consistently and emphatically, we need a shame-free framework from which to send out our reasons for limiting children, and in which to receive the child's objections.
