In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the importance of incorporating natural elements into early childhood education. These loose parts, such as sticks, stones, shells, and branches, all offer children unique opportunities for exploration; creativity; and learning.
With the change in season and the leaves changing colour to brilliant shades of yellow, orange and red, Autumn is the perfect time to collect natural materials and explore loose parts play with your little one. Incorporating the discovery and selection of these natural materials is also a great way to extend on the experience and helps your little one better connect to nature.
The Senior Kindy and Kindergarten children at Children First Mernda explored their outdoor environment and collected natural elements to use as a paint brush.
Using natural resources within play encourages children to observe more closely and use all their senses. Furthermore, natural materials are open ended materials as they can be used by themselves or with other things.
There are many creative ways in which our Children First centres incorporate natural material loose parts play into our educational programs. Let's delve into the benefits of integrating these materials into our childcare centres, including providing examples:
- Encouraging Creativity and Imagination
Natural material loose parts are open-ended materials, meaning they can be used in countless ways according to a child's imagination. A stick, for example, can become a magic wand, a fishing rod, or a sword in the hands of a child. By providing children with these materials, childcare centres encourage them to think creatively and explore the endless possibilities of the world around them.
The Pre-Kindy children at Children First Windsor Gardens created amazing collages out of natural materials to portray the changes of the season. The children were so inquisitive with their works while learning about why the leaves change colours.
- Fostering Sensory Development
Engaging with natural materials stimulates children's senses in ways that plastic or synthetic toys cannot. The textures smells, and sounds of natural loose parts provide rich sensory experiences that contribute to children's overall sensory development. For instance, playing with sand, pebbles, or leaves can enhance tactile sensitivity and fine motor skills.
At Children First Windsor Gardens, the Junior Kindy Classroom used cotton balls, sticks, and leaves gardens instead of a paintbrush as they explored their creativity and indulged their senses.
- Promoting Environmental Awareness
By using natural materials in childcare centres, educators have the opportunity to instil in children a deep appreciation for the natural world. Through hands-on experiences with materials like wood, stones, and shells, children develop a connection to nature and learn to respect and care for the environment. This early exposure lays the foundation for future environmental stewardship.
The children in the Kindergarten Classroom at Children First Mitcham have used natural resources as a large focus in their learning this year. The children enjoy using leaves, sticks, and bark to create a range of different art pieces.
- Supporting mental Development
Manipulating natural loose parts involves problem-solving, decision-making, and spatial reasoning skills. As children engage in activities like building structures with sticks or arranging stones in patterns, they are exercising their math and literacy abilities and developing important skills for academic success.
At Children First Mernda, the Toddler Classroom made their own play dough and then added natural materials to it as they explored the different textures and experimented with manipulating the play dough using the natural materials.
- Facilitating Social Interaction
When children play with natural loose parts, they often collaborate, negotiate, and communicate with their peers. Whether they are building a fort together or sorting leaves by size and shape, these activities promote social interaction and cooperation. Through play, children learn important social skills such as sharing, taking turns, and resolving conflicts.
- Embracing Risk and Resilience
Playing with natural materials inherently involves an element of risk, as children explore uneven terrain, balance on logs, or climb trees. While ensuring safety is paramount, allowing children to engage in risky play with supervision encourages them to assess and manage their own risks, fostering resilience and self-confidence.
At Children First Cranbrook, the children had the opportunity to explore their outside environment to collect natural loose parts to create their artworks.
- Connecting with Cultural Heritage
Many natural materials have cultural significance and historical relevance. By incorporating these materials into childcare settings, educators can introduce children to different cultural traditions and practices. For example, using pinecones in art activities may lead to discussions about their use in indigenous cultures for decoration or symbolism.
The Junior Kindy, Pre Kindy, and Kindergarten Classrooms at Children First Athelstone read “Echidna and the Shade Tree,” a dreamtime story about how the echidna got its spikes. This prompted the children to use clay, sticks, bark and leaves to create their own interpretation of the Echidna from the story.
In conclusion, natural material loose parts offer numerous benefits for children's development and well-being in day care settings. By providing opportunities for creativity, sensory exploration, environmental awareness, cognitive growth, social interaction, risk-taking, and cultural connection, these materials enrich the learning experiences of young children in profound ways.
We have Children First Early Education centres located across Queensland, Victoria and South Australia and as early childhood professionals, we embrace the beauty and potential of nature to nurture the next generation of curious, compassionate, and resilient individuals.
If you are looking for quality early education and care for your little one, call 1300 004 111 or visit our website www.children-first.com.au for more information.
