Loose parts is AWESOME!

Wait… what? You don’t know what loose parts is? Well, let me bring you up to speed. The term ‘loose parts’ is just another way of saying ‘junk modelling’, and it’s a really cool, simple, fun activity that anyone can do.

Loose parts activities encourage open-ended learning, and are great tools to use with children of all ages and abilities, as it engages the imagination and helps to unlock creativity. Children love having the freedom to make and do whatever they want, so that’s what I try to give them.

I dedicated all of Sunday 25 September to loose parts, loading up the Imagination Space here at Eureka! with a whole host of bits and bobs that would otherwise have been thrown away. Big bits, little bits, plastics and fabrics, old boxes and tyres, scraps of fabric, garden canes and loads, loads more. We had a real treasure trove of junk just waiting to be made into something amazing. I also gave the children the opportunity to try their hand at designing by having a designer’s area where the children could plan their creation before attempting to make it. Boy, did we make some awesome stuff!

Creativity and FUN! at loose parts day, 25 Sept 2011

We had all sorts of amazing creations: monsters, robots, dolls and animals, right through to spaceships, trains, musical instruments, and bows and arrows. The photos here capture just a few of the amazing creations that we made. Even some of the Enablers came to join in the fun!

Loose parts day was a really big hit, and everyone who took part said that they thoroughly enjoyed themselves, both adults and children alike. Best of all, the children could take home everything that they had made - and why shouldn’t they? All the materials were things that we didn’t need, and the children spent a lot of time turning those unwanted objects into something so much better than what they were originally made for!

We had a lot of fun on loose parts day, and would hate for anybody to miss out being part of such a great opportunity to be creative, so come along and join in if you can. We’ll be holding our next loose parts day on Sunday 4 December. If you’d like to make something as cool as the creations in the pictures, why not come on down to Eureka! and join in the fun? Come along to use your imagination, be creative and make something fantastic!

Ben Guilfoyle
Specialist Play Enabler

A day of inventor’s training with Wallace and Gromit

The BBC and Aardman Animations Ltd (the people who make Wallace and Gromit) came up with an idea for some ‘Invention Sessions’ based on one of Wallace’s own inventions, ‘the run-about steam chair’ shown in Wallace and Gromit’s World of Invention to excite and inspire young inventors all over the country. After taking the sessions on the road to various shopping centres across the country they have now passed the baton on to a handful of science and discovery centres to continue what they began. Eureka! was chosen to be one of those centres – how exciting for us!

It was especially exciting for me and my colleague Jennie as we were the ones who got to go down to BBC television centre in London to meet Wallace and Gromit and learn all they had to teach us about delivering the sessions. Well, actually, we didn’t meet Wallace and Gromit but we did meet a very nice man called Nick who turned us all in to children and delivered a session especially for us. (Wallace and Gromit were looking on in the guise of giant cardboard cut outs).

It’s fun being a child; those of you who have read my blogs before will realise that it is a very easy transition for me. We explored a bit of science and technology, played an amusing game and made silly noises and generally got to know more about the run-about chair. It was fun! There were a dozen other people from places as far apart as At Bristol and W5 in Belfast. They were equally good at being children; it must be something about the job we do.

Later on we all had a go at building our own run-about chair, powered by a battery. The instructions are really clear but I still managed to put one piece on upside down; oops! It’s very easy to take put things right, tho’ so I soon had it working properly. I felt really proud of myself. Jennie also managed to build her chair successfully, as did all the other ‘children’.

Jill in London with her Runabout Steam Chair

After lunch we had a go at adapting the session to use at our own centres. Jennie and I thought of loads of things at Eureka! we could use as examples; even Archimedes and his bath.

It was a very long day; we had to catch the 6.30am train from Halifax and didn’t get back until 8.45pm. However, we both came back full of enthusiasm and ready to train up other enablers to bring the sessions to life.

The session are for children aged seven and above and every child that comes to one of the sessions will get a run-about chair kit to take home with them, courtesy of the BBC. They are limited edition and are sooooooo cool. I’m really looking forward to the sessions and especially giving out the kits at the end. It’s like being Santa - and it isn’t even Christmas!

Jill Ward is an Enabler at Eureka! The National Children’s Museum