Loose parts play! An alternative title to this post could have been "What does my Montessori 6-year-old do all day?" In our Montessori home, the answer to that has been pretend play and loose parts. For Nora's 6th birthday, I dove into the much more Waldorf world of Grapat toys (For clarity's sake, this isn't sponsored by them and I purchased all of the toys we own.) and their colorful loose parts. I bought most of what we have used, so we have about a quarter set of the Grapat Mandala set plus some extra figures. It's been a huge hit! Especially when combined with our collection of Grimms toys.
So, what are loose parts? Basically, they are small bits of...anything used for play. The Grapat are really colorful, well made toys, but there is nothing special about them when it comes to loose parts. Everything we've seen by adding them to our home could have been gained with a tray of rocks, buttons, scraps of fabric, milk tops, and cheap wooden rings. So I d…
So, what are loose parts? Basically, they are small bits of...anything used for play. The Grapat are really colorful, well made toys, but there is nothing special about them when it comes to loose parts. Everything we've seen by adding them to our home could have been gained with a tray of rocks, buttons, scraps of fabric, milk tops, and cheap wooden rings. So I d…