This year we are wanting to boost creativity, exploration and problem solving by bringing in loose part play and to do this we need your junk!

Loose parts play is an open-ended way for children to interact with the world. Unlike a plastic toy car that is always a car, "loose parts" are materials with no specific set of directions—think buttons, cardboard tubes, stones, or lengths of fabric. These items can be moved, carried, combined, redesigned, and taken apart.

Why It Matters

Creative Problem Solving: When a child decides a stick is a magic wand one minute and a bridge for a troll the next, they are practicing high-level symbolic thinking and cognitive flexibility.

Independence and Agency: Because there is no "right" way to play with a pile of pebbles, the child is the designer. This builds confidence and the ability to take initiative.

Physical and Sensory Development: Manipulating objects of different weights, textures, and sizes refines fine and gross motor skills far more effectively than pushing a button on an electronic toy.

Sustainability and Adaptability: It teaches children to see the value in the "ordinary" and the discarded, encouraging a mindset of upcycling and environmental stewardship.

We need your help in creating this large loose play experience for our students. What you might think is junk might be the perfect thing for our box.

Here are some ideas for outdoor Large Loose Parts Play

• Planks and boards - nail free

• Tree stumps and logs

• Old tires (clean)

• Plastic crates and pallets

• Buckets and watering cans

• Ropes and pulleys

• PVC pipes and connectors

• Tarps and outdoor fabric

• Large stones and boulders

• Bamboo poles

• Wheelbarrows or wagons

• Old pots and pans for a mud kitchen

• Steering wheels or old tires for 'vehicles'

• Old slides

• Broken stools

• Pool noodles

• Loose wheels

Anything you can think of that is safe to be reimagined.