Tag: loose parts

A Visit to Resource Rescue: Exploring Sustainability and Loose Parts Theory

~ Storykate ~ Leave a comment

My early childhood education students and I are at the Resource Rescue, and it’s a mixed bag! Some feel like kids on Christmas morning, stuffing their bags with all sorts of materials, while others are a bit puzzled and unsure why we’re here. But slowly, they’re starting to get into it. This visit is a great way to show an important part of modern education: the value of recycling centres. These places not only help with sustainability but also boost creativity and learning using open-ended materials.

Where it all started: Remida Centres in Reggio Emilia

Remida Centres are part of the Reggio Emilia educational approach in Italy, which focuses on promoting creativity and sustainability in education. These centres are named after the mythological figure King Midas and serve as a hub for repurposing industrial waste into educational materials. Hereā€™s what you need to know about them:

  1. Origin and Purpose: Remida Centres were founded in the 1990s as part of the Reggio Emilia philosophy of education, which emphasises creativity, collaboration, and the environment. They aim to transform discarded materials from factories into resources for creative education.
  2. Materials: These centres collect a wide range of materials such as textiles, plastics, metals, wood, and other industrial offcuts. These materials are cleaned, sorted, and made available for teachers, artists, and community members to use in educational and artistic projects.
  3. Educational Role: Remida Centres serve as a bridge between industry and education, fostering a culture of sustainability and creativity. They offer workshops, training sessions, and collaborative projects to inspire innovative thinking and environmental responsibility among children and educators.
  4. Community Engagement: These centres are open to the public, encouraging community members to engage in creative reuse. They also organise exhibitions and events to showcase the potential of repurposed materials.
  5. Why Educators Should Visit: Visiting Remida Centres provides educators with access to a wealth of materials that can inspire innovative teaching methods and creative projects. The centres offer resources for hands-on learning experiences and promote sustainable practices. Educators can also participate in professional development workshops that focus on integrating creative reuse into their curriculum, enhancing their teaching strategies and supporting environmental education.

You can find more information on their website: ReMida.

Reverse Art Truck Inc. in Melbourne, Australia

Reverse Art Truck Inc. (formerly Reverse Garbage Truck Inc.) is a Melbourne-based not-for-profit organisation that has been operational for over 30 years, promoting creative reuse and sustainability. Hereā€™s a detailed overview:

  1. Mission: The organisationā€™s mission is to promote creative reuse within the community by repurposing industrial offcuts, rejects, and seconds that would otherwise end up in landfills. These materials are made available to educators, artists, makers, crafters, and hobbyists of all ages.
  2. Support and Operations: Reverse Art Truck has enjoyed long-term support from the Maroondah and Casey City Councils and various industries that donate their offcuts. The organisation redistributes these materials to the community, contributing to environmental sustainability.
  3. Community Impact: The organisation has become popular in the community, providing affordable resource materials to thousands of individuals. It aims to educate the public about the benefits of creative reuse, resource conservation, and waste reduction.
  4. Materials and Programs: Similar to Remida Centres, Reverse Art Truck collects a variety of materials such as fabric, wood, metal, plastic, and other industrial offcuts. These materials are available for purchase at affordable prices.
  5. Membership Prices: Reverse Art Truck offers membership options that provide discounts on materials. Membership fees are structured to be affordable, encouraging broad community participation. For detailed pricing, visit their membership page.
  6. Why Educators Should Visit: Reverse Art Truck is a treasure trove for educators looking to incorporate sustainability into their teaching. The diverse range of materials available can support various curriculum areas, from art and design to science and technology. By using these repurposed materials, educators can teach students about the importance of recycling and creative reuse, fostering an appreciation for environmental stewardship. Additionally, the centre offers workshops and educational resources that can help educators develop engaging and sustainable teaching practices.

You can find more information on their website: Reverse Art Truck.

Resource Rescue in Australia (Storykate personal favourite)

Resource Rescue is another organisation in Australia focused on creative reuse and sustainability.

  1. Mission: Resource Rescue aims to save useful materials from landfills by collecting industrial offcuts and surplus materials. These materials are repurposed for use in schools, early learning centres, and by artists and community groups.
  2. Materials and Services: The organisation collects a wide range of materials, including paper, fabric, plastic, wood, and other industrial by-products. These materials are then made available for purchase at affordable prices.
  3. Educational Programs: Resource Rescue offers educational programs and workshops to teach the community about the importance of resource conservation and creative reuse. These programs are designed to inspire innovative thinking and sustainable practices.
  4. Community Engagement: By providing affordable materials and educational opportunities, Resource Rescue plays a significant role in promoting sustainability and creativity within the community. The organisation works closely with schools, community groups, and artists to support various creative projects.
  5. Why Educators Should Visit: Educators visiting Resource Rescue can access a wide variety of affordable materials that can enhance their classroom activities and projects. These materials support hands-on, experiential learning and encourage students to think creatively about resource use. Additionally, Resource Rescueā€™s educational programs can help educators integrate sustainability concepts into their teaching, providing valuable lessons on environmental responsibility and innovation.

Have a look at their website: Resource Rescue.

What are Loose Parts?

Loose Parts is the name given to loose, tactile materials and everyday objects collected and subverted to serve collectively as a play resource.

Loose Parts are moveable pieces, generally of a disposable nature, that enable players to create and recreate their environments, totems, and locus of play.

loose parts in action

Play that emerges through engagement with these types of unspecified objects is free of expectation and provides opportunities to create play, rather than simply conduct play. In contemporary Australia, humans engage less and less with these types of ambiguous artefacts, and experience reduced exposure to truly self-directed experiences with objects that donā€™t carry an implied use.

Loose parts have been found to improve the play culture and reduce incidents of antisocial behaviour. They do this by encouraging cross-age interaction, the variation of gross motor movement and reducing sedentary behaviour, and by increasing the variety of play, including dramatic play and self-directed STEM play. Loose Parts increase opportunities for valuable interpersonal and social skills by introducing opportunities for independent negotiation, compromise, resilience, and collaborationā€¦ and theyā€™re also a great deal of fun.

Typical Loose Parts Checklist:

  • Netting
  • Cloth
  • Curved wood
  • Small pallets
  • Plastic pallets
  • Traffic cones
  • Core flute sheets
  • Rope and webbing strap
  • Tyres of all types
  • Foam shapes
  • Synthetic grass
  • Sails
  • Barrels of different sizes
  • Large plastic and cardboard tubes
  • Carry-on suitcases
  • Bread crates
  • Milk crates
  • Cushions
  • 15lt water bottles
  • Big bags

Linking to Sustainability and Loose Parts Theory

These organisations align perfectly with the principles of sustainability and the loose parts theory in early childhood education. Loose parts theory is the key component of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF), which advocates for the use of open-ended materials that children can move, manipulate, and explore.

By using repurposed materials from these centres, educators can create rich, stimulating environments that promote creativity, problem-solving, and environmental awareness.

The EYLF highlights the importance of sustainability, stating that educators should embed sustainable practices into their curriculum to help children understand and appreciate the natural world. By incorporating materials from Remida Centres, Reverse Art Truck, and Resource Rescue, educators can model sustainable practices and teach children about the value of reusing resources.

Additionally, you can watch my video about Affordance Theory by Gibson on YouTube to learn more about how environments and materials afford various possibilities for action: Affordance Theory by Gibson.

Paint samples or paint swatches from Bunnings as a resource for early childhood educators

~ storykate ~ Leave a comment

Paint samples from Bunnings can be a fun and creative resource for early childhood learning activities. 

Extra bonus – they are free! You can start collecting them over time or get the whole batch from resource rescue or similar recycling store. 

Here are some ideas to use paint samples in the classroom or at home:

1. Colour Sorting and Matching:

Use the paint samples to teach colours to young children. Have them sort the paint samples into different color groups or match them to corresponding objects or items in the classroom.

2. DIY Colour Wheel: Create a large colour wheel using various paint samples. Children can arrange the colors in a circular pattern to understand colour relationships and primary/secondary colors.

3. Name Recognition: Write each child’s name on a paint sample, and have them find their name among the colourful cards. It’s an interactive and personalized way to practice name recognition.

4. Pattern Making: Cut the paint samples into different shapes and colours. Encourage children to create patterns by arranging the shapes in specific sequences (e.g., ABAB, ABCABC).

5. Texture Exploration: Discuss the different textures of paint samples with children. Some might be glossy, while others may have a matte finish. Let them feel and compare the textures.

6. Counting and Math: Use paint samples as manipulatives for counting exercises. Children can stack the samples to represent numbers or perform basic addition and subtraction activities.

7. Alphabet Matching: Write uppercase and lowercase letters on separate paint samples. Have children match the uppercase and lowercase pairs together.

8. Storytelling and Creativity: Encourage children to use the paint samples as prompts for storytelling or artwork. They can choose a colour and create a story or draw something inspired by that colour.

9. Environmental Awareness: Discuss the importance of reusing and recycling materials. Paint samples are a great example of repurposing materials, and children can learn about sustainability through hands-on activities.

10. Sensory Exploration: Arrange the paint samples in a sensory bin filled with rice, sand, or beans. Children can explore the different colours and textures through touch and play.

Remember to supervise young children during these activities, especially if scissors are involved.

Silk scarves, play silks as open-ended materials and loose parts.

~ storykate ~ Leave a comment

My practice as a teacher suggests, that children are drawn to play with scarves, whether they are made of organza or silk.
There are many reasons for this attraction.

  • Scarves are open-ended. Children like open-ended materials, as they can do whatever they want with them. Open-ended materials encourage creative play and the use of imagination. A silk scarf can become a superhero cape, a blindfold, a bandage, a tale, or a set of butterfly wings. Scarves are used by children to decorate trees, wrap a baby and make a swing. They are versatile and amazing. For inspiration, look at how children are using Sarah’s silks here https://youtu.be/QXLZ21PJeHM
  • Scarves are sensory appealing. Any texture may be new for a baby, but children of all ages are drawn to the unique soft texture of the silk scarves. I once observed a group of preschoolers going to sleep, while holding onto Sarah’s silks, while I created a soft breeze by waving the rainbow scarf. Many of the children fell asleep, due to the soothing nature of the activity.
  • Scarves are colourful. Yes, scarves come in different colours – from the primary bright colour to the more deemed neutral palette. I have more than 50 scarves and this range of colours is an attraction by itself.
  • Scarves are enriching music, dancing and movement play. For example, scarves can be used in the dance of Sugarplum Fairy, for the Flight of the Bumble Bees, and for more structured action songs, such as “Up and down, turn around”.
  • Scarves are helping children to use of the schemes of cognition (thinking), as described by Jean Piaget. The Scheme is called Enveloping and I observed it when toddlers were putting scarves on their trucks, around their favourite plush toys, when they wrap the scarves in layers around their waist when they filled the boxes and baskets with scarves and wrapped their dolls in scarves as blankets. When playing with scarves, children wonder what happens if they wrap or hide an object. Will I still see the object? Is it still there when I unwrap it?
  • Scarves are great for the development of fine motor skills, e.g. you can give a baby an empty tissue box and put the scarves inside (make sure they are tied to each other). Watch the baby pulling the scarves out with joy and focus!

Awakening senses

~ storykate ~ Leave a comment

Looking through the eyes of the child

This week I decided to try to reawaken my sense; curiosity and awareness. I am currently reading Curtis and Carter book “The art of awareness” and love their “homework tasks”.

SO… 

leaves
  • I collected all the leaves, tomatoes and berries in my garden
  • I placed them on the table and looked at them carefully.
  • First I   noticed how unique they are… Some are shiny, others are not so much.  I tried to pile them up and make a  mandala; line them up, stack them up. Some tomatoes and berries were squished šŸ™‚ 
  • I also tried to send the leaves to fly and float in the air. 

All these attempts made me realise that I love playing with leaves, that’s why I always bring them to kinder and use them as a natural addition to all the tools and toys I have in the room. I found the sense of flow while playing with leaves and berries, some sense of freedom and child-like rigour to explore.  I think I did not really lose it, as I consider myself pretty fascinated by nature in general. What I lacked though is the descriptive language for colours, sounds of leaves. 

Share your experiences with nature and natural resources. Do you use them in your practice?