Loose Parts Play

Enhancing Personal Capacity Building and Climate Awareness of Pupils in Schools

Our main project goal is to assist schools to develop an effective environment for children's play, as well as to involve their communities in this endeavour. Through involving the community of parents and other stakeholders, the school strengthens its connections and the commitment of the community towards the school, as well as increasing the level of civic engagement.

Abundant evidence points to the benefits of play in schools. The introduction of loose parts brings even more benefit and richness to children's experience. Physical activity is increased, children enjoy playtime more with fewer accidents and arguments. Play becomes more complex, varied and creative. Children are more involved and immersed in play, with fewer barriers to children of different ages, genders, abilities and play preferences playing together. In schools with loose parts play, staff report more engagement and enthusiasm in lessons back in the class.

The project objectives are:

to increase sustainable thinking by introducing recycled items as resources for children's play (loose parts)
to enhance the play environment, quality of play and creativity of pupils
to assist schools to introduce the concept of loose parts to parents and to the community.

The project has four outputs:

Manual and Toolbox - These complementary resources are designed to help schools introduce loose parts and to guide them through all the common steps in the process. Partner schools in each of the countries were responsible for piloting these resources ahead of publication.
Training course for teachers - This modular course is based on the piloted Manual and Toolbox, with training for trainers allowing a wider reach for the whole project.
Research and policy paper - The research element of the project showcases the impact of using playwork approaches and loose parts play in schools. The research resulted in a collective research paper with policy recommendations in English, with shortened versions translated to all partner languages, as well as a set of national-level publications. These results were presented at national and international conferences.

https://www.loosepartsplayproject.eu/