Facilitating our infant playgroups and Just Beginning and Infant Massage classes, I hear a lot of talk about products and cool stuff that’s out there for babies that wasn’t around six years ago when my son was born. I feel like I want to have another baby just to try out these cool innovations in everything baby. Honestly there are so many incredibly awesome toys and provisions out there for babies and children as they grow. But there are also some incredibly expensive things out there that you can easily duplicate at home for little or no money that would be just as good for your baby!

In the Resource Centre at Childreach, we have a couple of books in the Loose Parts.book series One is geared towards infants and toddlers and another one is for young children. These books empower children's creativity, enhance play and encourage problem solving. Loose parts can be natural or synthetic, found, bought, or upcycled materials such as acorns, hardware, stones, aluminum foil, fabric scraps . . . anything that children can move, manipulate, control, and change within their play (keeping in mind the age and stage of the baby and ensuring supervision at all times). Loose Parts has some fabulous ideas in these books that provide children with some amazing learning opportunities that can spark their creativity that focuses on all areas of their development.

Working in our Toy Library and our Resource Centre, I get to chat with a lot of parents and caregivers. On average, a child gets tired of a toy after only a week, sometimes as little as a couple of days! We have some incredible Loose Parts kits that you can borrow and encourage your child in all kinds of ways! They are open ended, which in turn sparks imagination, creativity, originality, etc.

I took some inspiration from the Loose Parts for Infants and Toddlers recently and brought in some empty Christmas cookie tins of various sizes to Beginning with Baby (purchased inexpensively from a second-hand store). I provided a plastic hammer for the babies. After I modelled banging on them, I gave the hammer to one of the babies, and she banged on them. She was enjoying making the different sounds. I then added hollow wooden cubes to enhance the activity to demonstrate the different sounds metal and wood can make. I tried this activity with another baby as well. She didn’t like the hammer and preferred to use just her hands. Both approached this activity differently and in their own unique way.

Such simple ideas, yet both enjoyed them so much. After they had mastered the art of banging on the tin and wood drums, they picked the “instruments” up and studied them. Then they moved onto something else. So what? What did they learn from that besides making a lot of noise? In that short span of time, the babies learned eye-hand coordination, fine and gross motor development, cause and effect, social development, and emotional development. All for the low, low price of $2!

It’s so hard to not to get caught up in marketing for babies and children. There are so many things out there that we “need” to be a successful parent. Resist the temptation to get every new thing that’s out there. With a little creativity, you’d be surprised with what you can come up with on your own!

Check out our Resource/Toy Library here!
Here is another excellent link to explore the idea of loose parts!

What loose parts play have you tried with your baby? Please share!

Written by Paula Dibbits RECE, Parent Support Educator

Thinking Outside of the Toy Store