This past summer and fall, the Iowa Regents' Center for Early Developmental Education had the privilege to spend learn with more than 160 Iowa educators by exploring open-ended STEM experiences involving light and shadow phenomena. Several of these experiences involved loose parts. The idea of providing young children with loose parts was initiated by British architect, Simon Nicholson as a way for children to interact with variable such as gravity, sound, science concepts, words, and people. Engaging with open-ended loose parts offers a sense of wonder to children and nurtures invention, divergent thinking, and problem solving. We encourage teachers to provide opportunities for children to work with loose parts on a light pad, using light as a tool to reveal details in human made and natural objects, discover patterns, and create their own patterns using loose parts. When PK-2 children handle loose parts, they call upon their five senses as well as their senses of weight and balance. They discover properties of the materials, and how those properties determine how these materials can be used.
