Inspiring Scotland’s Go2Play scheme has published a useful Loose Parts Toolkit which is available as a FREE download.
The toolkit is designed to encourage adults in the play, early learning and childcare and education sectors to feel more comfortable and confident about introducing loose parts play within their settings, and to give young children more access to loose parts play.
Commenting on the publication, Mark McDonald MSP, Minister for Childcare and Early Years said: “Play is critical to a child’s development and the Scottish Government recognises the importance of unstructured free playtime for children. The addition of the Toolkit to a play setting will improve children’s play experiences and provide them with the opportunity to explore new types of play. Through our Go2Play fund we have helped thousands of children access free play opportunities across Scotland and this resource will make that investment all the richer for those communities and schools who embrace loose parts play.”
Loose Parts are about real world learning for all children and young people. The process both of introducing them and of playing with them involves collaboration, sharing thinking, problem-solving and decision-making where the outcome is evident – better play experiences. The impact of facilitating quality loose parts play is improved health and well-being and so a positive cycle is put in place. The Toolkit includes information about how embedding loose parts play can be a core part of a setting’s approach to Curriculum for Excellence and how it enables many experiences and outcomes, particularly in Health and Wellbeing, to be effectively bundled together. Thus the Toolkit supports the decluttering of the curriculum and providing space and time for staff to focus their time on developing skills, knowledge and understanding which support the learner’s journey. It dovetails with the advice contained in Curriculum for Excellence: A Statement for Practitioners from HM Chief Inspector of Education (2016).
The Loose Parts Play Toolkit was developed in response to demand and requests from the Play Sector, and Inspiring Scotland worked with Juliet Robertson and Theresa Casey on the toolkit, with support from many current and previous ventures in the supply of case studies and images.
To download the Loose Parts Toolkit CLICK HERE