Timberlea Public School has partnered with Ever Active Schools to offer students an opportunity to use their creativity and imagination while playing with recycled household items and natural materials like sticks, stones, water, sand, etc. in an outdoor setting. The program is called, “Loose Parts Play”
What is Loose Parts Play?
Loose Parts Play involves simple, affordable, everyday materials repurposed for play. Essentially, "loose parts" are materials that can be moved, carried, stacked or manipulated. The research behind Loose Parts Play suggests that the level of discovery, creativity and inventiveness within an environment is improved by the amount and variety of flexible materials within it.
When children play this way, they…
- Figure out things for themselves.
- Learn how to take healthy risks.
- Find innovative ways to think about the world and how it works, based on their own self-led, intrinsically motivated interests.
- Practice necessary skills such as overcoming obstacles, creative problem solving (on their own or with other children), communicating their feelings effectively with others, and working with those who may have different points of view.
- Experience the joy of self discovery, the thrill of being able to pursue their own creative ideas without the fear of failure that usually arises when there is one, predetermined way to be “right” or to “win”.
If you are able to help donate some “loose parts”, we are looking for any of the items listed below. Please keep the following in mind:
- All items must be clean and in good shape/safe for use by young children
- Email Ms. jenny.adams@fmpsd.ab.ca a list of what you would like to donate
- Wait for a drop off date and time before bringing items to the school
Materials
Bakeware (e.g., loaf or cake pans, cookie and muffin trays, mixing bowls, etc.
Buckets
Cardboard (e.g., large boxes, rolls, tubes)
Chains
Containers / Tubs (e.g., LARGE, please NO yogurt or margarine containers)
Cookware (e.g., pots, pans, skillets, etc.)
Crates
Funnels
Kitchenware (e.g., large tupperware, colanders, strainers, tongs, spatulas, drying racks, please NO small cutlery)
Laundry Baskets
Lumber (e.g., plywood, 2x4s, 2x6s, etc.)
Pool Noodles
Rope / Bungee Cords
Spools (e.g., large used for electrical wiring, cable or rope)
Spring Clamps (e.g., please NO wooden clothespins)
Stakes (e.g., plastic or metal, the brighter the better!)
Suitcases (e.g., hard shell ONLY)
Tarps
Tires
Tubes (e.g., PVC, plastic, collapsible)
Wood (e.g., stumps, logs)
All items must be clean, in good shape,
and safe for use by young children
Please contact the school for more information