Sustainability – ‘Loose Parts’ Invitations to Play

Join us in creating culturally sustainable environment offering diverse authenticity promoting a sense of wonder

Although ‘loose parts’ are present across our Continuous Provision, we are trying to promote it with our families.

We have created a little area to let the families explore with their children and see them engage with the resources to observe the immense value it adds to their imagination and creativity.

In 2015, all United Nations Member States adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. As a Centre we would like to contribute to this in a meaningful way for our children and families. To read more about the ethos, you can read ‘An Early Childhood Education for Sustainability’ resource that offers ideas how you can teach children about the importance of caring for our planet.

We would like to invite you to embark on a journey with us to create a space that supports children’s identities and a sense of belonging. We aim to design an environment that reflects our community’s diverse culture and traditions. At the same time, we want to nurture children’s understanding of  how simple actions can have a positive impact on our environment. 

Early childhood is the time when children begin to take ownership of who they are. We believe that spaces that encourage play and a sense of wonder invite children to question and critically think about who they are in relation to others, thus helping them develop their humanity.

We can achieve this by providing open-ended resources, loose parts and real objects that promote a variety of play and learning opportunities:

  • They offer authenticity and immense imaginative possibilities
  • They invite and encourage children to use their senses to discover textures, sounds, smells and colours
  • They connect to nature and our local environment
  • Children gain autonomy as they invent, combine and act on specific ideas
  • Learning through symbolic play – learning social rules, representing different traditions e.g. using pots, dishes and utensils from their culture, dressing up in traditional clothing
  • Having opportunities to problem solve, think critically and work in collaboration
  • Learning about the responsibility to care for and preserve the environment

How can you get involved?

You can bring any items you no longer have use for at home, but that could be upcycled and repurposed by us to enhance our learning spaces and play areas. Please, consider the safety of the items for the children. For ideas, please check our suggestions. If unsure, check with the staff.

Where else do we source environment-friendly resources?

We aim to use all available options that allow us to resource our Centre with sustainable items. We frequently purchase items from Sunny Bank Mills Scrap Centre which is a social enterprise based in Leeds, focused on helping the environment by reusing waste materials from businesses as resources for art and play.

We also purchase items such as clothes, bags, hats and scarves from Charity shops that we use in our dressing up areas or old pots and pans that enhance children’s experiences in our mud kitchens. This way we can also support local charities.

Our families are also actively contributing by donating items including recyclable materials we use for our craft activities as well as resourcing other areas such as our home corners where children can use authentic food packets they see in their homes.

And last but not least, Mother Nature provides us with a wide variety of treasures our children collect and then use in creative ways.