The Teacher’s Role in Loose Parts Play
Learn the teacher’s role in loose parts play and how to observe, scaffold and extend learning while children explore open-ended materials in early childhood classrooms.
Loose parts are the must have resource in a play-based learning classroom. With good reason!! There are so many benefits to using loose parts in the classroom but are you wondering what is the teacher’s role in loose parts play?
If you’re new to loose parts and want to understand what loose parts play actually is and why it is so powerful in early childhood classrooms, you might like to start with this blog post on Loose Parts Play: What It Is and Why It Matters.
Not Sure What Your Role Should Look Like?
Loose parts play can feel a little unclear at first — especially when you’re used to more structured lessons.
So I have written a Loose Parts Guide to help you understand how to support children’s learning while still keeping things purposeful and manageable.
In this blog post you will discover which loose parts are best for your children and find out how the teacher plays a vital role in the success of loose parts play in the classroom.
Classroom Loose Parts Materials
Your first role in loose parts play is to simply provide your children with open ended materials to use as loose parts.
If you want to ensure maximum learning impact, the key is to provide loose parts which are open-ended. When you are collecting and offering loose parts, ask yourself, “Can these loose parts be used in a variety of ways and for numerous purposes?”
Because loose parts are open-ended, they will have endless possibilities unlike closed materials which can usually be used for only one purpose. If you would like a loose parts play resources list of over 150 open-ended loose parts, download this comprehensive list HERE in my Free Resources library.
Open-ended loose parts are the best type of loose parts for your classroom learning invitations.
The teacher’s role in any loose parts play invitation is more than just supplying the loose parts though.
The Teacher as an Observer of Loose Parts Play
You have sourced a selection of open-ended loose parts and set them up in an inviting learning invitation but what do you do now?
You have a crucial role in facilitating loose parts play.
Loose parts play is primarily child-led. For children to learn through their play and work at their developmental level, the teacher needs to take on the role of observer and researcher.
After observing a child working with loose parts, you will better understand that individual child’s particular developmental abilities and learning needs. You can use your observations to guide you and inform you on ways to scaffold each child’s learning.
As you observe with your teacher’s eye, you will think of new learning invitations to set up and explicit teaching lessons you might like to plan for and implement.
The environment and the way loose parts are organised plays a big role in how children use the materials. If you are new to setting up loose parts in your classroom, you might find this blog post helpful: The Perfect Loose Parts Play Setup for Early Childhood Classrooms.
If you are like me, it is so easy to forget all those in the moment teaching ideas, so now I like to record my observations. Sometimes I will photograph the children’s work. After a long school day, photographs are an excellent reminder for me. Photographs are also an effective tool for documenting the learning that has happened that day.
Looking over the photos at the end of the day will not only remind me of my in the moment teaching ideas, but the photos will also act as a springboard to many other learning opportunities I can plan for.
I also use an observation checklist on a clip board to take notes during our investigation sessions. I record information about where the children were working and who they were working with etc. These notes have been invaluable at parent-teacher conferences. You can download the checklist I use HERE in the FREE Resources Library.
Scaffolding Learning in Loose Parts Play
If you provide open-ended loose parts for your children to explore and investigate, you will have many opportunities to observe and learn about your children. There will also be many opportunities for you to scaffold and extend their learning.
As your children explore the loose parts, they will demonstrate their skills and knowledge. Sometimes this can be the ideal time for you to scaffold and extend their learning.
I find it beneficial to start the conversation by asking for clarification. When you ask a child to explain what they are doing, you will be encouraging oral language, interaction and social skills AND you will be getting valuable information about that child’s thinking and understandings.
“This looks interesting. What can you tell me about it?” are open ended questions you can ask. Open ended questions are questions that can’t be answered with a simple yes or no. They require the child to respond with a clarifying explanation.
Asking open ended questions can not only give you valuable information about your learners but they will also provoke wonder and higher order thinking in your children.
If you are interested in some more open ended questions you can ask, you might be interested in these open-ended question prompts.
One of the gifts you can give children is allowing them the opportunity to solve problems. Creative and critical thinking skills are essential. The opportunity to take risks in a safe environment with an acceptance that failure is a springboard to growth and success ensures you are nurturing their natural curiosity and wonder about the world.
You will be giving them the gift of lifelong learning.
These open-ended question prompts will encourage higher order thinking in your children. Higher order thinking is a focus in every curriculum and with every age group. Enrich the academic and social learning in your classroom by encouraging your children’s natural curiosity.
You will receive a .pdf file containing 30 beautiful open-ended question prompts. Each prompt is designed to be printed on A4 paper or card. If you wanted them to be a smaller size, you could tile the printing to have 2 or 4 images to a page. I do recommend printing them at a high quality to achieve the stunning quality.
I place these cards around my room to prompt my questioning when I’m interacting with the children. They help me to challenge the children to think for themselves. They are also a great reminder for me to invite the children to share their thinking and their view of the world.
Sometimes I add beauty and value to a learning centre by including one or two of these open-ended question photos in the provocation. They assist me and other educators in the room to take the learning to the next level.
These open-ended question prompts are a valuable and effective learning tool. It’s important to me to help my children develop higher order thinking skills and to learn in an interesting and engaging way.
I often add one of these printed prompts to a loose parts learning invitation. They help encourage higher order thinking skills and enrich academic and social learning.
Taking an interest in your children’s loose parts play and asking for clarification will invite your children to verbalise their thinking and also give you insights into the next steps on their personal learning journeys.
Get Involved in Loose Parts Play
When you get involved and play alongside your children, you can model desired behaviours and skills. This can be a powerful teaching strategy. I usually wait for an invitation from the child or children before I join them and start playing too.
Sometimes children will directly ask you to explore the loose parts and join their play. Don’t wait for a verbal invitation though. Sometimes their desire to include you in their investigation might be less obvious and appear as a smile or other non-verbal cue. As you build relationships with your children and get to know them better, you will recognise their cues and respond appropriately.
If you are waiting and waiting and no invitation comes, you might just need to state your observations about their loose parts play in a nonjudgmental way. This will very often be enough to get the conversation going.
It is not your role to tell children how to play with loose parts. Observing children as they play with loose parts, it can sometimes be tempting to step in and tell children how to use the resources or even to take over and make a project for them.
Children will always learn more by doing it for themselves, even if it doesn’t work the first, second or even the third time. Making mistakes will allow children to test things and figure out what works.
Encouraging and accepting mistakes in your loose parts play is vital for developing resilience and a growth mindset. You can learn about how important this is HERE in this blog post: Affirmations & Growth Mindsets for Children
Signs Loose Parts Play Is Working in Your Classroom
One of the most common questions teachers ask when they begin using loose parts is, “How do I know if this is working?” Because loose parts play can look very different to traditional lessons, it can sometimes feel like children are just playing. But when you know what to look for, you will see that a lot of learning is happening.
Here are some signs that loose parts play is working well in your classroom.
Children are engaged for long periods of time
When loose parts play is working well, your children will stay engaged for long periods of time. They will be focused, motivated and absorbed in their investigations. You may even notice children returning to the same activity day after day to continue their work or improve their ideas.
Children use materials in different ways
There is no right or wrong way to use loose parts. When children begin using the same materials in many different ways, this shows creativity, flexible thinking and problem-solving skills. For example: a stick might become a wand, a flag pole, a fishing rod or part of a construction.
Children collaborate and talk with each other
Loose parts play often becomes social. Children will talk, negotiate, share ideas and work together on projects. You will hear lots of conversation, storytelling and planning. These interactions are very important for social development, language development and communication skills.
Children solve problems independently
You will see children experimenting, testing ideas and solving problems on their own. They might try to balance objects, build taller structures, sort materials, create patterns or work out how to make something stable. This type of play develops problem-solving skills and critical thinking.
Children return to the same materials repeatedly
Repetition is an important part of learning. When children return to the same loose parts over and over, they are refining their skills, testing new ideas and building confidence. Each time they revisit the materials, their play often becomes more complex.
Children create increasingly complex constructions and ideas
Over time, you may notice that your children’s constructions, designs and ideas become more detailed and complex. Towers become buildings, patterns become pictures, and simple collections become stories or small world play scenes.
Children tell stories and engage in dramatic play
Loose parts are often used in storytelling and dramatic play. Children might create homes, roads, gardens, cakes, animals or imaginary worlds. This type of imaginative play supports language skills, storytelling, creativity and emotional development.
Children sort, count, measure and classify materials
Loose parts naturally support maths and science learning. You will often see children sorting by colour or size, counting collections, making patterns, measuring lengths, comparing quantities or grouping materials. This shows that loose parts play supports curriculum learning in authentic ways.
When you see these things happening, you can be confident that meaningful learning is taking place.
Loose parts play may look different from traditional lessons, but it supports children’s development in countless ways across all areas of learning.
Collecting Evidence of learning in Loose Parts Play
We all have mandated curriculums and mandated assessments in our current education system. When children are playing with loose parts, there are often opportunities to collect evidence to inform your assessments and grading.
Teachers will have more success with any play based learning when they know and understand the mandated curriculum and associated assessments. If you know your curriculum and assessment pieces well, you can be on the lookout for opportunities to gather specific information or learning evidence.
This usually requires you to ask a quick closed question like, “How many candles are on your cake?” or “What sound does that start with?”
If you decide to purposely collect data during any investigative play time, there are things you need to be aware of.
Your questions may interrupt the thought processes and cognitive processing happening in your learner.
You will be demonstrating that your data collection is more important than the child’s play based learning experiences.
Primarily the teacher’s role is to observe, engage and scaffold loose parts play. I hope you enjoyed this blog post on the teacher’s role in loose parts play and you have gained some information and ideas to implement in your own classroom.
When you understand your role, everything starts to feel more manageable.
Your Next Step
The next step for you now is setting up your space so your children can use the materials independently and successfully.
👉 Read: The Perfect Loose Parts Setup
And discover how to set up the perfect early childhood loose parts play area with simple tips on choosing materials, designing spaces, and using provocations to spark creativity, problem-solving, and learning
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