I love hearing what other educators, favorite strategies are for engaging
children and nurturing their curiosity.
And this should really be the first consideration for any teacher.
Is how do you get your children to be curious?
Because once we hook children in to loving learning, the rest is easy.
On this podcast, I have now interviewed so many amazing educators
and I've certainly noticed a theme.
Obviously they all value curiosity, but overwhelmingly they favorite strategy
for sparking curiosity is loose parts.
Just think about my interview with Ash Sharp from Play More or
Marcus Veerman from Nudel Pod or Dr. Claire Warden or Veronica
Green from Cultivating Confidence.
I leave all these links in the show notes for you so that you
can check out those episodes.
But this is also the exact same response I received from Janelle
McArdle.
Janelle is an experienced early childhood educator in Queensland, Australia, and
she shares her knowledge and expertise, including resources for teachers on
her website My Teaching Cupboard, and she also has a Facebook group.
I called my teaching cupboard.
And I will share how you can access all her resources at the end of this episode,
so stick around.
But without further ado, let's hear what Janelle has to say.
My favourite strategy for nurturing curiosity in
children is using loose parts.
Loose parts are everyday objects like stones or shells or counters
or even wooden blocks that children can use in so many different ways.
What makes them so special is that they're completely open ended.
There's no right or wrong way to use them and they're really
cheap or sometimes even free.
You probably already have some items you can use for loose parts in your
classroom, like the collage trolley, that's a good place to source them.
When you provide children with loose parts, you're essentially giving them
the freedom to explore and create and problem solve in their own way
and at their own developmental level.
They might build a tower.
They might sort them or create a pattern or even pretend that a
pine cone is a tiny little animal.
The possibilities are endless with loose parts.
They're fantastic for nurturing curiosity because they spark a child's
imagination and encourage children to ask questions like, what can I do with this?
Or what happens if I try this?
That process of exploration and discovery is where true curiosity lies.
As an educator I love observing how children interact with loose parts
because it gives me a glimpse into their thinking, their creativity
and where they are developmentally.
So thanks for sharing that Janelle.
Janelle is of course spot on.
Loose parts are just such an indispensable resource.
And as Janelle said, they don't have to be expensive.
Almost any packaging from empty cereal boxes to milk jug lids,
to chocolate wrappers, empty egg cartons, scraps of fabric,
bits of yarn, and even those ribbons you get, when you receive a posy of flowers.
Anything can be a loose part.
Loose parts are open-ended materials that children can manipulate, move, combine
and transform in multiple ways that offer numerous developmental benefits.
They promote creativity and imagination.
When children encounter materials without a predetermined use, they invent their
own purposes and their own scenarios.
Therefore strengthening their creative thinking and we need more of that.
It develops problem solving skills.
Where children have to figure out how to stack or balance or combine loose parts.
It requires them them to experiment and test theories and adapt their approaches.
It also enhances their mathematical thinking.
Children naturally explore mathematical concepts like sorting and classifying
and patterning and spatial relationships when they work with diverse materials.
And it also builds fine and gross motor skills.
They manipulate objects of different sizes and weights and textures, and this
all develops those crucial motor skills.
It also encourages collaboration because children have to work
together with loose parts, practicing their negotiation skills.
Sharing ideas and building on each other's creations.
It supports language development as children describe their creations
and processes, they develop vocabulary and communication skills.
But loose parts are not just for the early childhood classroom.
In K to two classrooms, you can start with a collection of natural materials,
things like pine cones, stones, sticks, shells, all those kinds of stuff.
Then you can add domestic items like fabric scraps, and bottle tops
and buttons and cardboard tubes.
But here's the thing, rotate those materials regularly to maintain interest.
Don't put everything out all at once.
And also create a dedicated, loose parts area with low
shelves and labeled containers.
So the kids can access them easily.
And document those children's creations with photographs
before they get dismantled.
But in the upper primary grades three to six, you can introduce loose
parts with more complex materials, like mechanical parts and mechanical
tools and recycled electronics.
You can connect loose paws to the curriculum using natural materials,
for example, in your science units.
You can create engineering challenges using loose parts, like building
bridges with straws or pop sticks that need to hold a certain weight.
You encourage students to document their own thinking process
and their design decisions.
And of course create yourself, a materials library where students can
access these items for their projects.
And let me end with seven tips to help you bring loose parts into your space.
Numer one is start small.
Begin with just a few categories of materials rather than
overwhelming children with everything and the kitchen sink.
Number two is to source materials thoughtfully, engage
families in collecting items.
You can visit thrift stores.
You can get local businesses and donations.
Three is consider storage solutions, use clear storage containers, and
label them with words and pictures.
Connect the curriculum.
Use loose parts to make abstract concepts tangible.
Creating number patterns or building story scenes.
Five is to ask questions: what would happen
if?
How else can you use this?
What does this remind you of?
Because loose parts, dovetail so naturally with inquiry and questioning
to take children's thinking further.
And six is to value the process over the product, focus on the thinking and
the learning that's happening rather than creating a permanent artifact.
It doesn't matter what the product looks like.
It's the creation, the process and the thinking behind it, that matters.
And finally document the learning, take photographs,
record children's explanations and display your documentation
to make your learning visible.
So that's it for today.
I hope you found some interest here and to make your week ahead, really focused
on bringing loose parts into your space.
And then step back and observe, and you will be pleasantly surprised as
to how loose parts can make learning concrete for children of any age.
Now, if you want to get in touch with Janelle, go to my teaching cupboard.com.
I will put the link in the show notes for you as well as where you
can sign up for her Facebook group.
If you found some value and I'm sure you have in this episode, can you
do me a favor right now, please?
Click on the share button and share it with a friend or colleague so
that more people can listen to blooming curious, because that's
the only way this show can grow.
Thanks for listening today.
I'll see you again next week.
And then remember curiosity is not just a trait.
It's a superpower take care.
See you around.