DESIGN ELEMENT
7. Loose parts - materials that can be manipulated and moved
DESCRIPTION
A concept borrowed from early childhood education and increasingly being adopted by primary schools. Loose parts such as driftwood, tyres, planks, and slices of tree trunks that children can use to work collaboratively to create structures such as huts, sculptures and play areas they’ve designed and created themselves.
PURPOSE AND EXPLANATION OF MECHANISM
To foster more creative and collaborative play
To provide for riskier play experiences to help children learn and practise making judgments around risk, build their motor skills, perseverance, self-control and resilience
To foster opportunities for tamariki and whānau to engage in creative and collaborative play together, fostering relationships and building connectivity