The Tinker Tray — Loose Parts Play

Set out a tray of small, open-ended bits and pieces — buttons, bottle caps, pebbles, fabric scraps, corks, pipe cleaners, wooden rings, shells — with no instructions and no picture to copy. The child arranges, combines, sorts, stacks, and transforms them however they like. “Loose parts” can become anything, so the same tray sparks a different invention every day.

  1. Collect a mix of safe, open-ended materials — natural (pebbles, pinecones, shells, sticks), recycled (bottle caps, corks, cardboard rings), and craft (buttons, pom-poms, fabric, pipe cleaners). Variety matters more than quantity.

  2. Arrange them invitingly in a tray, muffin tin, or basket — sorted into compartments looks irresistible. Add a base to build on if you like: a wooden board, a mirror, a sheet of felt.

  3. Offer it with an open invitation, not a task: “I wonder what you could make with these.” Then step back.

  4. Resist directing. If asked “what should I make?”, turn it back: “What do YOU think? What could these be?”

  5. Photograph or admire the creation, then let it be swept back into the tray — the impermanence is part of the freedom.

Variation: theme the tray (all blue things; all round things; a “winter” tray of white and silver parts) to spark fresh ideas. Pair the parts with small figures or animals and they become a world to build. Add water, sand, or playdough as a binder for sturdier creations.

Requirements

  • Space: A table, tray, or patch of floor; a corner that can stay set up invites return visits
  • Surface: Any flat surface; a tray or board contains the pieces and defines the workspace
  • Materials: A varied collection of open-ended loose parts — natural, recycled, and craft items; optional base (board, mirror, felt) and small figures
  • Participants: 1 child works happily solo; 2–3 can share a larger tray and spark off each other
  • Supervision: Moderate if small parts are used and a younger child is nearby; otherwise light, as this is self-directed play

Rationale & Objective

Loose-parts play comes from architect Simon Nicholson’s (1971) Theory of Loose Parts, whose central claim is that “in any environment, both the degree of inventiveness and creativity, and the possibility of discovery, are directly proportional to the number and kind of variables in it.” Open-ended materials that can be moved, combined, and transformed hand the child the variables; a finished, single-purpose toy does not. Daly and Beloglovsky (2015) show how everyday loose parts invite children to move, carry, combine, redesign, take apart, and put back together in many ways, and the approach is a cornerstone of the Reggio Emilia atelier, where open materials and provocations support the child’s “hundred languages” (Edwards, Gandini & Forman, 2012). Vygotsky (1930/2004) reminds us imagination is built by recombining elements of real experience — exactly what a child does combining a button, a cork, and a shell into a new whole. It builds toward the subdomain marker “combines different materials to create something new” and the EYFS goal of safely using and exploring a variety of materials.

Progress Indicators

  • Early: explores the materials sensorially — sorting, lining up, filling and dumping, stacking — without yet making something; this is the necessary first step, not a lack of creativity
  • Developing: starts to combine parts purposefully and names what they have made (’this is a house’), often after the fact; reuses a favorite arrangement
  • Proficient: plans before building, deliberately combines several materials for an intended creation, and explains the choices (’the shells are the roof because they’re curvy')
  • Advanced: builds elaborate, original scenes or contraptions, gives parts surprising symbolic roles (a cork is a person, a ring is a pond), and develops a story or function around the construction

Safety Notes

  • Small loose parts are a choking hazard — for a 5-year-old playing alone this is usually fine, but keep the tray well out of reach of any child under three, and remember that a piece small enough to pass through a toilet-paper tube can choke a toddler
  • Check natural materials before use — no sharp sticks or shells, no mold, no berries or seeds that could be mistaken for food, and rinse anything foraged
  • Remove genuine hazards from recycled bins — button batteries and small magnets are dangerous if swallowed, and sharp can rims or lids cause cuts
  • Stay nearby for children who still put things in their mouths, and never leave loose parts with a child who does
  • Use only clean food packaging, and avoid containers that held nuts or other allergens if any child present has allergies

Hints

  • Playfulness: treat the tray like treasure — present it beautifully, react with curiosity to whatever emerges (’tell me about this!’), and let the child be the inventor while you stay the fascinated audience.
  • Sustain interest: rotate the collection so it never goes stale — swap in seasonal finds, a new color theme, or a fresh special material each week; foraging the parts together on a walk is half the fun.
  • Common mistake: turning it into a craft with a ‘right’ result, or tidying and correcting the child’s arrangement — the value is in the open-ended process, so offer materials, not models, and let creations be temporary.
  • Limited space / no equipment: a single muffin tin and a handful of buttons and corks is plenty; outdoors, nature IS the tray — pinecones, leaves, stones, and sticks cost nothing and combine endlessly.
  • Cross-domain: sorting and counting parts builds early math and classification; describing creations grows language; fine pincer work strengthens pre-writing muscles; adding figures and a storyline links to dramatic play and narrative.
  • Progression: begin with a small, simple set to explore freely → add more types and quantities of parts → offer a base or theme to focus the play → introduce figures or a binder (playdough, tape) for sturdier builds → invite the child to plan and describe an intended creation before making it.

Sources

  • Nicholson, S. (1971). “How NOT to Cheat Children: The Theory of Loose Parts.” Landscape Architecture, 62(1), 30–34
  • Daly, L. & Beloglovsky, M. (2015). Loose Parts: Inspiring Play in Young Children. Redleaf Press
  • Edwards, C., Gandini, L. & Forman, G. (Eds.) (2012). The Hundred Languages of Children: The Reggio Emilia Experience in Transformation (3rd ed.). Praeger
  • Vygotsky, L. S. (1930/2004). “Imagination and creativity in childhood.” Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 42(1), 7–97
  • UK EYFS — Expressive Arts and Design — Creating with Materials ELG (safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques)
  • HighScope KDI 40 (art) and KDI 5 (use of resources)
  • Finland National Core Curriculum for ECEC (2022) — Diverse forms of expression