In play, ‘loose parts’ are skirting the edges of nirvana. Ask any kid. Now they probably won’t call them ‘loose parts’. They’re more likely to use the generic and all encompassing ‘stuff’ prefaced by cool, awesome, or great. It might even go the way of ‘this stuff is epic’.
Students at Emmaus Primary Catholic School – Melbourne, Australia. Photo: Jay Town. Source: HeraldSun
Wood, rope, tarps, tires, milk crates, cardboard boxes, fabrics and apparently hay bales too can make up a loose parts inventory. It’s what the kids do with it that’s a real blast. They create, they build up and pull down, they improvise, they move, groove and PLAY!
Now, thanks to Australian researcher Brendon P. Hyndman we have empirical evidence that loose parts in primary schools go way beyond a good thing. From the perspective of increasing physical activity, engaging a broad cross-section of kids and being light…
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There’s something counter-intuitive about exposing ‘delicate’ children to the elements, come rain, come shine: (1)
Sometimes, when we got there in the morning the snow would have blown in on to the tables and chairs and we would have to clear it off before we could start.
But by all accounts, it did Norman Collier, a pupil at the Aspen House Open Air School in Streatham in the 1930s, ‘the world of good’.
The school was opened by the London County Council in 1925 for pupils described at the time as ‘pre-tuberculous’ – children who were anaemic, asthmatic or malnourished. It was the fifth of the LCC’s open-air schools. The first had been opened in Bostall Wood in Woolwich on land donated by the Royal Arsenal Cooperative Society in 1907. But it was the first built to the council’s ‘improved design’ which would go on to be used in fourteen…
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This post asks for your help in building the case for play. I am writing a report – aimed at Government – that gathers together evidence for the difference that play facilities and initiatives can make to children, families and communities. And I need your help in pulling together this evidence. I hope you agree this is an important and urgent task, given the scale of recent cuts to play facilities.
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Public play facilities have suffered huge cuts in the last 3 years. New data shows that spending by English local authorities fell by nearly 40 per cent between 2010 and 2013. Revenue spending has been even more badly hit, falling by over 60 per cent. As a result, almost one in three councils have closed at least one play facility.
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I love playing with our kids and watching them as they create new worlds, discover simple pleasures and push physical boundaries. In play, they are brightly shining lights, beacons of now inviting me to join them and momentarily let go of my adult sensibilities.
I’ve become more attuned to the intrinsic benefits, beauty and magic of play in the last few years. Our favourite venues are outdoors and it seems that for the kids every excursion and each new setting are opportunities to let loose. This is a visual year in review with our star players.
In 2014, our plan is to keep on playing and make the most of priceless moments. Wherever you are, we hope you’ll join us for the joy of play.
Nigel Boldero aka 'Old School Gardener'
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