ABSTRACT
A child-friendly environment offers multiple affordances that children are able to actualise. When children enter a play space, they use their senses to explore every aspect, and they consider how each bit can become part of their play. Loose parts are materials that are open ended, offering multiple play possibilities. Loose parts in the outdoor space could include: Plastic crates, cable reels, sections of guttering, buckets, tyres, bicycle wheels, cardboard tubes, wooden planks, wooden blocks, ropes, wooden pallets, flowers, sand, pine cones, shells, leaves, pods, seeds, stones, logs, sticks, twigs, log slices, bark, sand, gravel, hay, ice. Children have always played with materials that are not specifically toys, but certain key figures have championed loose parts play. In terms of playing with sounds, take a Bluetooth speaker outside and ask the children to choose the sounds or music they want to accompany their play.
