Loose parts are open-ended materials like sticks, boxes, lids, and fabric that children can move, combine, and turn into anything they want. This guide covers what loose parts are, how to set them up at home, and the part most guides skip: letting your child lead.
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Loose parts are open-ended, often upcycled materials that children can move, combine, and use however they choose. They have no fixed purpose. A cardboard tube can be a telescope, a tunnel for a toy car, or a sword, and the child decides which.
The idea comes from architect Simon Nicholson, who wrote in 1971 that the more things children can move and change in a space, the more they invent and discover there. A playground with fixed equipment offers a few uses. A pile of crates, boards, and rope offers endless ones.
As parenting educator Magda Gerber put it: "We should have busy children, not busy toys."
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A loose parts activity has an adult's goal built in: sort the buttons by color, build a tower, make a face out of leaves. Loose parts play has no goal except the child's. You offer the materials, and your child decides what happens next.
The materials are the same, but the experience isn't. When an adult sets the goal, the child's job is to get it right. When the child sets it, they're the one inventing, testing, and changing their mind halfway through.
That second kind is what we offer at our pop-ups. We set out the materials, and the kids take it from there. We have observed children combining kayak wheels and sleds with rope to make cars.
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Gather a handful of open-ended materials, put them where your child can reach them, and let them play without a plan. You don't need to buy anything to start. Most of the best loose parts are already in your house or your neighborhood.
Start small. A basket or tray with five or six kinds of things is plenty.
Mix it up. Combine something from nature, something from the kitchen, and something from around the house.
Make it easy to see and reach. Muffin tins, egg cartons, and divided trays work well.
Head outside when you can. Dirt, water, and space make loose parts go further.
Leave time. Give your child a long, unhurried stretch with no other plans.
Swap things in and out. New materials spark new ideas.
Expect some mess. Clothes that can get dirty help everyone relax.
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Step back and watch. Stay close and interested, and let your child decide whether to invite you in. Watching closely can matter as much as joining in.
We call this being play responsive. You join when your child asks, follow their lead when you do, and leave them to it when they'd rather play alone. Watching also shows you what your child is drawn to, and that helps you choose what to offer next time.
When you hold back from fixing, suggesting, or finishing the project for them, your child gets to make the decisions and solve the problems themselves. That's where the confidence comes from.
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Yes. Kids playing with loose parts solve problems, test cause and effect, build motor skills, and practice negotiating with other children. They get there through their own ideas instead of an adult's plan, and that's the point.
This is self-directed play: children choose what to do, set their own pace, and decide how to play without adult expectations. At Rooted in Play, we believe real learning lives in the process, not the finished product. A tower your child designed and rebuilt three times teaches more than a perfect one built from instructions.
Self-directed play also builds things a worksheet can't: independence, resilience when an idea doesn't work, and a lasting curiosity about how things work.
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Start with what you already have. Here are ideas by where you'll find them:
From nature: shells, rocks, sticks, seed pods, leaves, acorns, feathers, pine cones, tree cookies, sea glass
From the kitchen: pots and pans, funnels, whisks, spoons and ladles, bowls, measuring cups, muffin tins, lids, a turkey baster, a flour sifter
From the garage: measuring tape, a level, wood scraps, rope, PVC pipe, paint buckets, duct tape, pallets
From the craft drawer: cardboard, tape, paper, chalk, paint, playdough, pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, fabric, buttons, wooden spools, ribbon
From around the house: sheets, boxes, old clothes, a shower curtain, bike tires, an umbrella, jars, paracord, a mop or broom
For storing and setting out: divided trays, egg cartons, muffin tins, ice cube trays, tackle boxes, baskets, old drawers
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Loose parts play is as safe as the materials you choose for your child's age. Small items like beads, buttons, sequins, gems, and pebbles are choking hazards for children under 3, so save those for older kids. Check wood scraps and pallets for splinters and nails, and stay nearby when tools are in play.
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In the Rooted in Play Circle, a free online community for parents, caregivers, educators, and anyone who cares about children's play. Members share what their kids made, ask questions, and swap ideas for play at home, at school, and in their neighborhoods.
The Circle is open to anyone, anywhere. You don't need to live in Florida or have been to a pop-up. It's free thanks to funding from the Children's Board of Hillsborough County.
About this guide
Rooted in Play is a Tampa nonprofit working to make sure ALL children have regular access to child-led play. Since our first Pop-up Adventure Playground in April 2019, we've hosted free pop-up play at parks around Tampa and served over 2,000 families. Our team is trained in playwork, and the playwork principles guide everything we do.