In the past month the School-age 1 children were engaged in playing with loose parts. The children interacted in imaginative play by creating a little town with the stone houses. In this town they incorporated the small cars that were driven over the mat. The towns also had trees, rocks, and leaves on the ground, along with some mushrooms. Some places in the town had wooden logs and a big cave. In this scenario Niall, Philippe, and Josie were telling the story about what is happening in 'their city'. Philippe built the structure out of the cave and a wooden log by joining them together and creating a tunnel for the small cars to drive through. Niall was testing the tunnel by pushing the race car through. He was surprised to see how fast the car passed through. Josie used the rocks to make the obstacle course for the race car. She stacked them on the little pile and wanted to observe if the car was able to overcome the pile of rocks.
This activity involved social interactions between children that used their cooperation and leadership skills to build up friendship among peers. They expressed their communication skills throughout their conversations by asking questions, and answering and describing their ideas to each other. The engagement with the loose parts gave the children an opportunity to master their fine motor skills by manipulating smaller items and improving their pincer grasp.
The play also showed how creative and imaginative these children were by building the town and adding their own little story to it. It is especially important that children have experiences like this so they can explore and find the answers to their own questions, which Is a part of cognitive development. This experience offered children a meaningful opportunity to incorporate loose parts in their play.
