The magic of cardboard

​Written by Teacher Stacy Gohman

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Do you ever feel like kids play more with the box than they do the toy the box came in?
The reason may be explained by the theory of loose parts, postulated by Simon Nicholson in 1972.  Nicholson said: “In any environment, both the degree of inventiveness and creativity, and the possibility of discovery, are directly proportional to the number and kind of variables in it.” (Nicholson, 1972, pg. 6).  Nicholson believed that an item that is designed for a specific purpose has fewer opportunities for engagement compared to an item that has a specific intention.  A fire truck is always a fire truck, but a box can be anything you can imagine!
Loose parts align with constructivist theories of education, which posit that children learn the most through hands-on exploration and play, and construct their own knowledge and learning through their play.  I think that loose parts are more likely to engage a child in a state of flow, a state of deep engagement where the challenge of the activity and the skill level of the individual are matched.  In a flow state, an individual is deeply engaged, they lose track of time, and completely absorbed in the task.  It is an emotionally fulfilling, enriched state of mind.
In loose parts play, children develop problem solving skills, symbolic thinking, math and science concepts, creativity, flexibility, fine and gross motor skills, collaboration and teamwork, independence, and leadership and decision-making skills.

• Problem solving with loose parts comes from experimentation, trial and error, and from using what they have at their disposal to meet their needs.
• Symbolic thinking is a very important pre-literacy skill.  It is the ability to understand that one thing can be a stand in for something else; in the case of play, it is an understanding that these rocks can also be diamonds, and some shaving cream on a tricycle can be the remnants of a ghostly visitor.  This is an important step to understanding that these lines and squiggles are letters that represent sounds, which come together to make words.
• Math and science concepts are developed when children spontaneously categorize, sort, and group materials, build towers, knock over towers, and learn about the different properties of materials.
• Creativity and flexibility include thinking of materials in different ways.  Maybe that pipe can be used as a bridge, or several boxes can be put together to make an airplane, or those blocks can be pancakes.  This type of out-of-the box thinking is really important for seeing solutions that others may miss and lays the groundwork for deep, divergent thinking later in life.
• Gross and fine motor skills are engaged as children move, manipulate, and arrange loose parts.  When we provide a variety of materials in the space, children are challenged to use their bodies in different ways.  Using large objects, like some of our larger blocks, sometimes require children to work together to move or manipulate the materials, building teamwork skills.
• Children collaborate a lot when working with loose parts; they are deciding together what to build, where to build it, and what characteristics the play should take on.  They have to discuss, share, negotiate, and come to agreements.  
• Children also build independence in determining what they want to play when by themselves or in a group.  They are not being told what to do, they must figure that out for themselves and determine what the play will be.
• Leadership and decision-making skills come from all of the other skills they build in play, sometimes one child will take a leadership role in determining what the play will look like; sometimes there is a group decision.  In both of these cases, the decision about how to play and whether or not they want to engage under those circumstances are an individual decision they must make.

Loose parts play may look like just a bunch of trash, but they are the seeds of imagination and creative play.  Through this type of play, children are counting, exploring color, texture, science, math, relationships, and building the skills they need to be successful later in life.  

“When children interact with loose parts, they enter a world of “what if” that promotes the type of thinking that leads to problem solving and theoretical reasoning. Loose parts enhance children’s ability to think imaginatively and see solutions, and they bring a sense of adventure and excitement to children’s play” (Daly et al., 2015).

Checkout Teacher Tom’s Junkyard Playground: https://teachertomsblog.blogspot.com/2021/07/this-is-how-junkyard-playground-works.html

References
Daly, L., Beloglovsky, M., & Daly, J. (2015). Loose Parts: Inspiring play in young children. Red Leaf Press.
Nicholson, S. (1972). The Theory of Loose Parts, An important principle for design methodology. Studies in Design Education Craft & Technology, 4(2).

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