TEY_10_1_2020

Teachearlyyears.com 19 New resources We’ve added to our collection with more unusual objects, for example, thaika pods, bell cups, cocoa boats and bellarni pods. Do not disturb Giving children time to become immersed in their play is crucial – try to avoid interruptions! Interactions The adult role is to facilitate play by providing time and space. Don’t miss opportunities for sustained shared thinking too! Treat your children to fascinating, open-ended resources and watch as they learn as they play, says Emma Davis… Whywe love our loose parts Free resources Recently, we’ve been working to extend loose parts play. Implementing loose parts doesn’t have to cost the earth. In fact, it needn’t cost anything if you collect items yourself or, better still, involve parents and carers. Initially, we made the most of free resources found at home or outdoors: cardboard tubes, shells, pebbles, sticks, pine cones, buttons and leaves. Children were free to explore and develop their curiosity and this is when we heard rich vocabulary, relating to sizes, shapes, colours, lengths and number, as they chatted to each other. Patterns emerged with the loose parts, some inspired by books we’d read. This also linked to children retelling the stories, remembering what happened and creating representations through the resources. Places to play How we display loose parts varies considerably, guided by the children and our observations. Tuff trays are ideal, whether on the floor or stands. With plenty of space in the tray to display the resources, children can have lots to choose from and room to investigate. A large mirror placed on the floor has proven to be popular too, with children interested in watching themselves and each other. As our loose parts journey has evolved, the spaces in which we offer resources has grown. Loose parts are available indoors and out although we’re mindful of small objects so ensure that areas are fully supervised. EMMA DAVIS IS MANAGER AT BUSY BEES LEDBURY. Involving parents Making loose parts freely available as part of our continuous provision has illustrated popular resources and how they’re used, and helped us reflect on how to extend this. It’s also prompted me to reflect on the opportunities for involving parents in offering this type of play at home. I applied for a grant through Herefordshire Council in order to acquire funds to develop the home learning environment through loose parts. Our application was successful and the funds were used to purchase a bank of loose parts resources from Nursery Nook (nurserynook.co.uk) . Other resources were acquired inexpensively through eBay, for example, lollipop sticks, buttons, cotton reels and wooden discs. Loose parts library The rolling out of our loose parts library for parents will begin with an information session this half term. Parents and carers will join us to look through our new resources, have a play and think about how they can use them at home with their child. Following this session, the resources will be available in packs for families to borrow, with the aim of promoting learning and development through the home learning environment. As this is a new initiative for us, we’ll be looking for families to feed back to us in order to further develop our library. We’re very excited to share experiences with families, and to spread the joy of loose parts! Emma Davis is manager at Busy Bees Ledbury. Follow her @EmmaDee77 TAKE IT FURTHER