The Inside Scoop on Loose Parts Play: A Parents Perspective
Written by Janis Letchumanan
“Mom, I’m bored!” my daughter calls for the fourteenth time in as many minutes. I’ve already set up some paints, read her a book, given her a cuddle and some screen time, turned on the sprinkler in the backyard, and nudged her towards some new toys. Nothing seems to kickstart her sense of play. I’ve done everything I can—it’s beginning to feel like I need to do the playing for her. Has my child forgotten how to play?
A Different Kind of “Toy”
Two summers ago, we tried something new and brought one of Vivo’s Loose Parts Play Kits—a box full of random reusable parts, everything from baking trays to ropes, pulleys, and pool noodles—back home with us. It was like Christmas morning, the way this mystery box lit up my kids’ curiosity and imagination.
A few weeks later we popped into a Vivo Play Hub where kids were free to make and play whatever they liked with a whole shipping container of loose parts. You know how kids often play with a gift’s wrapping more than the gift itself? It was like a whole park out of nothing but packaging. Kid heaven.
Play structures and traditional toys have a time limit of interest for my kids, but a pile of paraphernalia never grows old. I would have never thought to put a pile of tires, artificial flowers, old flip phones, rope, kitchen supplies, and a working typewriter together, much less offer it to my kids as something to fill the afternoon, but loose parts like the ones provided by Vivo’s Play Project have changed the way we play.
A New Way to Play
Play at its best isn’t mere entertainment. Gordon Neufeld, developmental psychologist and founder of The Neufeld Institute, shares that true play happens when a child gets lost in the fun of the activity, not the outcome. True play doesn’t rely on stimulation, but rather expression and exploration. This kind of true play engages a child’s body, senses, and imagination and helps kids grow up ready for life in the adult world.
This is the kind of true play Vivo curates so well—and for free! Whether loose parts were transformed into a band, a hospital, a kitchen, or a 40 foot marble run, their minds and bodies were locked and loaded. I never once heard my kids complain of feeling bored, nor did I need to work at engaging them. Hours into play, they always begged to stay.
As a parent, is there anything more satisfying than to see your kids light up while playing? The Play Project offers the kind of free play I remember loving as a child, a simple, yet profound experience we just can’t get from a packaged toy or screen. I love knowing these times of free play will be a part of what my kids remember from their own childhood.
Life as a Playground
Now the true play we love inside Vivo’s Play Project happens outside of it—spilling over into our everyday life. When we learn to see everything as a potential toy, everywhere becomes a place to play. In the park, twigs, berries, and flowers transform into our kids’ ingredients. When we’re out to eat, salt and pepper shakers become characters on the table stage. Even in our backyard, the milk crates I picked up for free from a neighbour have engaged our kids way more than traditional “outdoor toys” ever did.
And in the end, I realize: my kids haven’t forgotten how to play. They just need the right environment to bring their sense of play to life.