In the Lab, one of our favorite activities is a "green dot bin" exploration day. On these days, we give students a block of time and a defined space to work. They are encouraged to select any of the green dot materials they wish to work with and build structures, tell stories, explore, tinker, construct, and create using their selected materials. Occasionally we will provide a prompt ("can you create a winter scene with your green dot loose parts?") but usually we do not. Sometimes, we pull the use of tape or glue, if we want the creations to easily come apart and the materials to be recycled back to their bins. But usually, students create something they'd like to keep, and its value and importance is known just to them. Loose part explorations are an integral part of our Nido curriculum as we use the Reggio Emilia approach to learning in these young years. It just made sense to extend the loose part concept and work to the green bins in the Lab.  Here's a blog post we wrote earlier this year about the high value in this open-ended exploration of materials. 

For Earth Week, we are encouraging all our makers to go outside and gather your loose parts from nature! Create a collection of anything meaningful to you. Once you've collected, you can use your natural loose parts again and again to construct and tinker. 

Nature Based Loose Part Ideas: 

• acorn pod

• leaves

• flowers

• green material

• rocks

• moss

• mulch

• twigs

• feathers

• pinecones

• seed pods

Ideas For What You Could Construct With Your Loose Parts: 

• tell a story

• create a model to look like something else

• stack

• create a pattern

• organize by color

• organize by texture

• model shapes, letters

• self-portrait

• mimic a piece of art you appreciate