I have been interested in incorporating into my classroom for years. Especially after watching my Kindergarten students do it naturally with all of our resources in math centers.
Fall
I purchased these adjustable drawers from Amazon and they are perfect, because you can stack them all together when you are done!
dowels
Of course, being in New Hampshire has its perks, I was also able to add some beautiful maple and oak leaves as they began to change.
This became one of our arrival activities each week. I loved seeing the different creations they would make!
Loose parts play can get messy! But thanks to the drawers, they were able to clean it quickly and efficiently each time we used them!
I think this was one of my most favorite creations. He used a lotus pod as the top for the tent and sticks, feathers and dowels for supports. It became a campground!
To store it, I just placed everything into Ziploc sandwich bags and then put them altogether in a two gallon Ziploc bag. Now it is ready to go for next fall!
Spring
For this set, I purchased:
I put this one out in March, I could not resist. We were at the end of another long dreary, gray winter!
They even found ways to connect the felt balls to the popsicle sticks. A few even included flowers in the mix, but I missed the picture of those!
These last two sets are not exactly loose parts, but they are two collections my class adores.
One is all the buttons I have collected over the years from making jewelry.
Some even came from my old necklaces and bracelets. I spent a rainy Saturday taking them apart.
They love sorting them and asking me all about where I got the beads and what kind of jewelry they belonged too.
Last up is our button bin! Some are from my own collection and some were donated from my amazing sister, Ladybug's Teacher Files!
They have used them on our 120's chart. But most often, they use them for sorting.
I have a few students who like to see how they change when they put them on our light table!
For this set, I purchased:
and I included the wooden people from the Fall set.
They were so excited by all of the colors and textures!
This set definitely added a bit of fun to our Monday morning arrival time!
One is all the buttons I have collected over the years from making jewelry.
They have used them on our 120's chart. But most often, they use them for sorting.
Do you use loose parts in your class?
Update for 2020: The white trays were not as durable as I hoped. The dividers didn't come down all the way to the bottom and they got rather messy.
I purchased these bamboo trays back in 2018 and I love them!
The dividers cannot be moved but the four areas are just the perfect size for the materials. The bamboo
looks so pretty with the materials for loose parts too!
*All links in this post are Amazon affiliate links.
No comments