When children are given materials without fixed purposes, they reveal thinking, creativity and curiosity that structured tasks often hide. This is the value of what is called “loose parts play”.

Loose parts are simple materials for which no clear instruction is given for how they must be used. They can be anything: for example, glass gems, corks, pinecones, buttons, scraps of fabric or shells of different sizes.

These materials do not need to be expensive; their value lies in the freedom they offer children to explore, construct and represent ideas in ways that feel meaningful.

Despite this, in some early years settings, loose parts are still underused or even feared. The pressure to produce visible outcomes can make open-ended play feel risky, particularly when practitioners are expected to evidence progress quickly.

So, how can early years practitioners use loose parts play effectively?

Why is loose parts play so powerful?

Loose parts play can take place throughout provision. A handful of glass pebbles can become a cup full of water in the home corner; building blocks turn into intricate villages in construction; buttons are used for pattern building in the maths area.

Rather than adults directing play and outcomes, children are allowed to be the masters of their own creations. The materials must be small enough to be moved around the environment and interesting enough to capture children’s imaginations.

Loose parts support a wide range of learning outcomes, many of which are difficult to capture through traditional activities but are essential for healthy development. These include:

• Language and communication: children articulate ideas as they experiment. They negotiate roles, plan together, narrate stories and explain designs.
• Problem-solving and perseverance: loose parts naturally generate trial-and-error learning, encouraging resilience and flexible thinking.
• Creativity and representation: before children can write fluently, they need opportunities to represent ideas in multiple ways. Loose parts enable children to create maps, patterns, stories and sculptures.
• Collaboration and social development: loose parts naturally draw children together. The play requires turn-taking, negotiation and shared decision-making.

Independence is at the heart of loose parts pedagogy. Children learn through experimentation rather than passively following a pre-set task. For adults, this means stepping back to allow genuine exploration, while staying close enough to notice and extend thinking.

That can feel unfamiliar and daunting for adults who are used to resourcing activities with clear curricular outcomes. When children do not immediately demonstrate sustained play, rich language or deep thinking, it is easy to assume that loose parts “aren’t working”.

But it’s important to remember that children are not born instinctively able to use loose parts, and neither are adults. Both need time and modelling to understand how open-ended play with loose parts works.

Moving towards an embedded loose parts culture

It is not enough to distribute crates of shiny materials and hope for the best. Leaders must create a culture where open-ended play is understood, valued and explicitly linked to curriculum aims.

This means supporting staff to take part in professional development that explores the pedagogy, purpose and practice behind open-ended play. It means ensuring that the approach is being used consistently across classrooms, so that children regularly encounter loose parts and have a chance to build fluency with them.

Leaders should stress the need for a focus on process, reassuring staff that exploration and thinking are valid outcomes. Practitioners need to feel trusted to prioritise play that builds independence and creativity.

The following steps can help them to feel secure:

• Start small. A single tray of materials is enough. Too many resources can overwhelm.
• Introduce slowly. Model sorting, combining, balancing and arranging. Demonstrations help to build confidence rather than limiting creativity.
• Make learning visible. As children navigate their play, narrate their thinking out loud: “You’re testing which shape holds steady. What have you noticed?”
• Observe process, not product. Photographs and brief notes capture language, collaboration and reasoning more effectively than finished items.
• Allow time. Deep play takes longer to emerge. Protecting uninterrupted time is essential.
• Use outdoor spaces. Loose parts can scale up into large construction play, strengthening motor development and teamwork.

Loose parts play offers children opportunities to communicate, collaborate, experiment and imagine. In a world where screens and tightly structured programmes dominate many children’s early experiences, loose parts slow learning just enough for pupils to think deeply, follow ideas and take risks.

When we give children materials and ask nothing of them except curiosity, they show us what they are capable of. Loose parts reveal the learner, not the task. That is why they matter more now than ever.

Lucy Fox is assistant headteacher and head of foundations at Stoke Primary School in Coventry