Authors Lisa Daly and Miriam Beloglovsky took time to talk to us about their journey, inspirations, and success in early childhood education. Click here to read their Author Spotlight interview.
Loose parts play in early childhood education has been around for a long time. The very first time it was named to be a concept of early childhood education was by British Architect Simon Nicholson in 1971. It was he that coined the term loose parts, describing open-ended materials that can be used and manipulated in many ways. He believed that environments offer many ways for children to interact with variables such as gravity, sounds, chemical reactions, concepts, words and people (p. 5). The possibilities are endless for children to play and explore with loose parts. Daly and Beloglovsky came together to write an absolutely stunning book that covers loose part play as it relates to the senses, creativity, action, and inquiry. Throughout the book are utterly beautiful photography that will inspire you to create a place of awe and inspiration for children of all ages to play, explore and learn. While many of the ideas in the book are meant for slightly older children, I have used several of the ideas for infants and toddlers, keeping in mind their strong inclination to put things in their mouth, to explore rocks, shells, scarves, and so much more! They love it. And I am so excited that Loose Parts 2: Inspire Play for Infants and Toddlers releases in May 2016 and will be so fantastic to use with the little ones in my care! The older ones have use marbles, jewel rocks, nuts and bolts, etc to create, count, sort, and more. The book has helped immensely to change my environment for the better! This book has been an absolutely fantastic addition to my professional library and I am of the opinion that every early childhood education program needs it in theirs. I cannot wait to get my hands on I highly recommend this book and give it a huge thumbs up!