January 27:

The Dr. Hamman Loose Parts Committee met for the first time. We discussed our own
experiences with Loose Parts, flipped through Daly and Beloglovsky's 'Inspiring Loose Parts
Play in Young Children', and came up with a list of items we thought would benefit our students.
We tried to think of items that families would have in their homes but might not think to use
(milk jug and jam jar lids, keys, bread tags, serving utensils, board game pieces), and​items that
local companies could donate (carpet and tile samples, cardboard, nuts/bolts/washers, paint
chips). All of these items have potential to build with, sort, stack, make patterns with, and
represent items such as a healthy balanced meal or an igloo. We also discussed where the Library
would be set up (Music Room) and how teachers using the materials would work; we decided on
a paper sign-out sheet where the teacher would write down which materials they took and how
long they would need them for. I created a comprehensive list and poster to send to families and
had my principal and head of the Loose Parts committee proofread it.

February 1:
The letter asking for donations was emailed to our DRH families, and was posted to the school's
Facebook page. In the first week, we had students dropping off materials in a bin outside my
mentor teacher's classroom. Each day after school ended, I sorted through the materials and
organized them into the shelves in the Music Room.

​ ebruary 6-March 15:

F
Donations from families continued to come in. We received items such as toilet paper and paper
towel rolls, cardboard boxes, empty yogurt containers, and a couple of mismatched lids. This
was not as extensive as I had hoped, and our team reevaluated. During the week-long break for
Teacher's Convention, I made a list of all the businesses in Lethbridge that would possibly have
items we wanted. I contacted around 50 businesses, including bakeries, automotive repair shops,
bicycle and snowboarding stores, blinds, draperies, and light fixture businesses, carpet and
flooring stores, cosmetic, discount, floral, music, office supplies, scrapbooking, and hardware
stores. I received lots of interest in our project, but two actual donations (funky-shaped cardboard
and paint sample cards).
I attended the Play-Based Learning presentation at the SWATCA Teacher's Convention, put on
by my Loose Parts Committee (which featured some of my personal pictures of Loose Parts
play). My principal came up to me, and told me she had gone shopping for our Library over the
week off. I went to school on the Monday after, and was completely overwhelmed. My principal
had gone to various dollar stores, discount and thrift stores, and checked Lethbridge and Taber
Facebook Marketplace. She had found almost every item on our list. Our Library looked so full! I
went through and inventoried our materials, and began to organize and combine different items.​
March 6:
I looked at the Daly and Beloglovsky books, my personal experience and examples of Loose
Parts, and the curriculum for each grade in our school (K-5). The head of our Loose Parts
committee asked me to create PD and present it to our school at the March staff meeting. I used
the main curricular outcomes for each grade to create basic ideas for how to implement Loose
Parts into student learning. For example, in Grade 1 Social, students learn about belonging to
different communities, such as families, schools, and towns/cities. Teachers can use Loose Parts
to create the different communities that students belong to; students can create their houses and
the family members living in them. In Kindergarten, students work on letter formation and
legibility. One example I have seen is giving students Loose Parts to create the letters of their
first and last names. In Grade 2 Math, we cover different units of measurement; students enjoy
picking different Loose Parts and counting out 100 of that object. Then students compare the
distance their materials cover in relation to their peers (100 kidney beans vs. 100 plastic straws).

March 15:
This was the last day that we accepted donations. Our Loose Parts committee found a time where
we could all meet and organize our materials. With my inventory, we divided items into
‘single-item’ bins and ‘mixed’ bins that helped teachers model the building and creative play that
students engaged in. We set up a sign-out sheet where teachers could write down which items
they were taking and how long they anticipated using them. We kept items such as gems, keys,
and small metal equipment separate, and made mixed bins out of serving utensils, dried beans,
and tiny tiles.
I started asking my students questions about the Loose Parts that they played with; which items
were easy to build or make patterns with, which items were difficult, which items had nice
sensory reactions, etc. I also paid attention to the teamwork and critical thinking that took place
during time with the Loose Parts.

March 22:
I presented the PD for Loose Parts at our monthly staff meeting, talking about different ways to
implement the philosophy for free play and curricular-based learning. My colleagues had
awesome ideas for how to implement Loose Parts into their classrooms, including creating
bridges, moving vehicles, and sorting/patterns. I asked them to take pictures of their students'
creations (without names or faces) so I could see their creativity and which items they enjoyed
building with the most.
I also started collecting all of my resources and pictures of students using Loose Parts into a
binder that parents could look through during our Celebration of Learning night (March 28).
After that, the binder was placed with the Library as a guide to using the materials.
March 27:
The Loose Parts Library officially opened! Teachers had the option to take their classes into the
Music Room to see what kinds of items we had, or could go in by themselves and make note of
which materials they thought would work well with different curricular outcomes. My colleagues
took pictures of the projects their students used Loose Parts with and told me about how their
students used different items in creative ways.
I am regretful that the donation timeline took so long, because it shortened the actual time that
teachers and students got to use the Loose Parts Library while I was still in practicum. I would
have loved to have seen and heard about the long-term impacts of implementing open-ended play
and learning at Dr. Hamman.