The Benefits of Loose Parts Play for Young Children

*Updated September 2025

Loose parts play is a highly engaging and developmentally enriching experience for young learners. This type of open-ended play encourages creativity, problem-solving, and hands-on learning in an environment that fosters exploration and imagination. Early childhood educators and parents can provide a rich learning experience by incorporating loose parts into their play environments. 

This blog will explore what loose parts are, the benefits they offer, and how early childhood educators can integrate these materials into their classrooms to enhance children’s development.

What Are Loose Parts?

Loose parts are open-ended materials that children can manipulate, combine, and transform during play. These materials can be natural or synthetic and are typically not designed for any specific purpose. Loose parts can include anything from pine cones and sticks to buttons and bottle caps. The beauty of loose parts is that they allow children to use their creativity and problem-solving skills to build, explore, and discover in their own unique ways.

These materials are particularly effective because they can be used in a variety of ways. Children are not limited to a fixed outcome, and they can revisit the materials time and time again, always discovering something new.

The Theory of Loose Parts Play

The concept of loose parts play was introduced by architect Simon Nicholson in 1971. Nicholson’s theory suggests that the more varied and flexible materials available in a child’s environment, the more opportunities there are for learning and creative thinking. By providing children with a wide array of open-ended materials, we enable them to take ownership of their learning and play experiences, and develop key cognitive, emotional, and physical skills.

The Developmental Benefits of Loose Parts Play

Loose parts play provides a multitude of developmental benefits for children, especially in their early years. This type of play is instrumental in fostering cognitive, emotional, and social development. Here’s a closer look at how loose parts can benefit young children:

1. Cognitive Development

Loose parts materials encourage critical thinking and problem-solving. When children are given natural loose parts and play materials like cardboard boxes, pine cones, and straws, they must think creatively about how to use them. This open-ended nature of engaging with their different materials promotes cognitive skills such as reasoning, planning, and experimentation. For instance, children might use sticks to create a bridge or build a tower out of cardboard boxes. Each attempt requires trial and error, which builds their problem-solving abilities.

Additionally, loose parts offer opportunities for children to develop spatial awareness as they figure out how to balance, arrange, and fit materials together.

2. Fine Motor Skills

Playing with loose parts materials enhances fine motor skills. By manipulating small objects such as buttons, beads, and pompoms, children work on hand-eye coordination and dexterity. Picking up small items, threading them onto strings, or placing them into containers all help strengthen the small muscles in the hands and fingers.

3. Imaginative Play

Loose parts are ideal for sparking imaginative and dramatic play. Whether children are pretending to cook with wooden blocks or using scarves as capes for superheroes, they are engaging in a form of creative play that enhances their language development and communication skills. This kind of play allows children to explore different roles and scenarios, enriching their social-emotional development and fostering a sense of empathy and understanding.

4. Social and Emotional Development

Loose parts play encourages collaboration, sharing, and communication. When children work together to build something or explore a new material, they practice essential social skills such as negotiation, turn-taking, and problem-solving with peers. These interactions help children develop their social confidence and emotional intelligence, as they learn to express their feelings, listen to others, and resolve conflicts.

5. Gross Motor Skills

While fine motor skills are developed through smaller, detailed actions, loose parts also provide opportunities for gross motor development. Outdoor activities like climbing ladders, stacking cardboard boxes, or maneuvering obstacles courses made from loose parts promote balance, coordination, and physical strength. Children develop strength and coordination through movements like running, jumping, lifting, and throwing, which are critical in their early years.

6. Critical Thinking

Loose parts play is a natural way to build critical thinking skills in young children. With no set instructions or predetermined outcomes, children must evaluate how materials work together, what they can create, and how they can solve problems during play. For example, they may use pine cones and sticks to build a structure, thinking through how to balance the materials, and how to make the creation stable.

How to Incorporate Loose Parts Play in the Classroom

Early childhood educators can enhance their learning environments by incorporating loose parts into various areas of the classroom. Here are some practical ways to use these materials to encourage learning and play:

Dramatic Play Area

Incorporate materials such as blankets, recycled items (e.g., cereal boxes), small plastic animals, and play cars. These open-ended materials will inspire children to engage in imaginative play, where they can act out real-life scenarios or create entirely new worlds. This kind of play supports language development, problem-solving, and social interaction.

Art Area

Provide a variety of materials such as straws, large beads, natural and coloured popsicle sticks, and pompoms. Children can use these materials to create anything from simple collages to more intricate sculptures. This supports fine motor development and creativity, allowing children to experiment with colour, shape, and texture.

Construction or Block Area

Set up a construction area with cardboard boxes, wooden or soft blocks, and other building materials. These loose parts help children develop spatial awareness, problem-solving skills, and creativity. They can build towers, bridges, or even entire cities, learning about balance and structure along the way.

Sensory Bin

Fill a sensory bin with natural materials like sand, water, pine cones, and feathers. Children can explore these materials with their hands, which not only enhances their sensory development but also promotes language skills as they describe textures, colours, and shapes. This area offers endless learning opportunities as children experiment with pouring, scooping, and arranging materials.

Outdoor Play

Outdoor environments are perfect for loose parts play. Provide materials like bikes, balls, and hula hoops. Children can use these items to engage in gross motor activities, build outdoor structures, or create their own games. The outdoor space allows children to explore their physical limits and develop strength, coordination, and balance.

Simple Loose Parts Activities for Toddlers, Preschoolers, and Kindergarteners

For Toddlers:

• Painting with Leaves: Gather different coloured leaves from outside. Allow toddlers to dip the leaves into paint and press them onto paper to create prints. This activity fosters creativity and fine motor skills.
• Sensory Exploration: Fill a sensory bin with pine cones, rocks, and leaves. Toddlers can explore the materials by touching, smelling, and observing them, which promotes sensory development and language skills.

For Preschoolers and Kindergarteners:

• Nature Collage: Go on a nature walk and collect leaves, flowers, and small twigs. Back at school, let kids glue their finds onto construction paper to make a collage. This connects them to nature and their community while encouraging creativity.
• Building a Miniature City: Set up a variety of materials like train tracks, magnetic tiles, small toy figures, plastic trees, vehicles, and construction toys to inspire children to build their own city. Encourage them to think about different areas, like homes, stores, and parks, as they design their urban landscape. This activity sparks creativity, teamwork, and critical thinking while enhancing fine motor skills and spatial awareness.

Loose parts play offers young children a wealth of developmental benefits, from enhancing cognitive abilities to improving motor skills. By incorporating loose parts into their classrooms and play environments, early childhood educators can provide children with valuable opportunities to explore, create, and learn. 

For more tips and tools to support your classroom, check out resources like Lillio’s Early Childhood Education Blog, which can help you track progress, communicate with families, and streamline your classroom routines.