Shakin Bones Time…. Loose Parts Play is not a new thing, it has been around forever. All of a sudden Loose Parts Play has taken on a new “status”. People are debating over its definition, what can and cannot be classified as Loose Parts, and creating environments that can be certified as a Loose Parts Centers. What the Hell!?! The other day I read about a game that can be developed using Loose Parts. You take sea shells, trace them on a flat board, and then children can match the real shell to the traced one. That is still “teacher crap”. It might be loose parts but it is not PLAY. Can I just say that Loose Parts does not have to be pretty, it does not have to be “teachy”, it does not have to be purchased, and it certainly does not have to be “certified”. Loose Parts should be and has always been, moveable, take apart and put back, real vs. fake, child driven, and just, yes I am going to say it, FUN. When we take something that is so natural and make the goal “to teach” it, it no longer is Loose Parts Play. It is Teacher Directed Parts. So let's stop making something that is so natural so unnatural.
