Get Outside And Play with Loose Parts: The Pesach Edition!

Pesach is ever so near and it is a holiday laden with opportunities for play and learning for children. S has been busy crafting, learning, storytelling, reading, building, tasting and singing at school. Y has been working on his own Hagadah with me at home. Their free play at home has been infused with Pesach themes and one afternoon last week, I decided to roll with that in an "out-of-the-box" and outdoors way--playing about Pesach with loose parts.

There are plenty of loose parts purists out there--folks who use only the strictest adherence to loose parts play theory in their classrooms and homes. These spaces can be amazing for children and adults of all ages. I am more eclectic here. I like to add it in, like a nutritional supplement, as opposed to rigidly adhering (like a restrictive diet). One challenge I often have with loose parts play indoors is the restriction of space. We make it work and have done some amazing play and exploration with a variety of different loose parts. Heading outside allows us a bit more space (particularly in our backyard space, even though, like our front yard it is semi-public and shared with neighbors) and a novel backdrop. One in which the environment itself can serve as a loose part (or multiple loose parts).
In setting up our provocation, I wanted to include the Pesach story and elements for retelling it. I also wanted to incorporate items large and small, natural and man-made, living and nonliving, some even musical! There was a basket with a baby Moshe and a picture book with the Pesach story. There was a basket full of play silks and scarves. Perhaps the boys would dress up or add them to the scene. Silks laid across the ground to resemble the river were lined with rocks (and a basket of those were set along the side as well) and plants. There was a tray of frogs and glass gems (gotta throw in your favorite plague), and a small dish of glass gems and mosaic tiles and interesting stones as well. Another metal tray held our fearless leader, Moshe Rabeinu, and a selection of wooden peg dolls representing the Jewish people behind him on their journey out of Mitzrayim. The end of the Nile was marked with a basket of tambourines played by Miriam and the Jewish women and along the sides were some baskets of cardboard tubes and assorted window blocks. Beyond that were the items already out in our backyard space.
I gave very little introduction other than to say there were toys and materials for playing about the story of Pesach. The boys could use what they wished as they felt they wanted to. They could act out the story, play about it, build about it or come up with their own ideas.

Many times, when something is new, it is met with a bit of trepidation. Some children will flock toward the familiar. Some will dip their pinky toe in and then slowly enter. Others jump in, full body and immerse. Still others will go to another space or activity altogether and enter only when ready. This is why I always remind myself and others of the most important "loose part," TIME. Children need time to engage, immerse and remain in creative play. We tend to pour a lot of energy and time ourselves into provocations or activity setups and then we can feel frustrated or concerned when they are not met with a response we expected. One thing I have almost always found to be true is that given the space of time and silence, children do engage and explore--each in their own way and at their own pace.

Y went immediately to the baby Moshe in the basket. He loves babies right now and this felt familiar and soothing.

S gave everything the once over and walked away to the sensory bin, still filled with desert sand dough from our Digging in the Desert STEM challenge. A repeated activity has the component of familiarity that is comforting to him and served as a base for later emerging into the play scene across the yard... Sand, dough and sensory materials are a wonderful loose part to use in play! He also enjoys using other loose parts and tools in the sensory table, taking them out into other play areas and adding in others from other play areas as well. 

Both boys slowly moved into their play experience and I really invited myself to sit back and observe. At one point, I asked S and Y if they would like me to read the story in the book while they played. S's response was incredible! "Mommy, I'm worried that if you are reading it will stop us from playing!" I love that he advocated for ownership in his play space and experience. I completely respected his response and continued to watch as they played, responding to questions or remarks as I was invited to.

Play begets play and sometimes there are requests for additional components to support the process, like when S asked if I could build the tee-pee for them again. We stopped into the house to grab our old sheet and I re-planted the garden stakes and fastened on the sheet for the boys. He busily took to building a bonfire again using silks and stones and then needed to go to the front yard to pick a couple of sticks from our play garden. That, of course, meant he'd need some playdough from our STEAM drawer cart inside to make them marshmallows for roasting. Perhaps the part about roasting marshmallows over a bonfire during the original exodus from Egypt didn't make the story line in our liturgy, but it did in play!

 Large riding toys, push toys and other outdoor materials make for great loose parts as well. Here, S lay himself in our big red wagon and declared that he was "baby Moshe in his basket."

It took the boys a while to fully engage in our provocation and they were completely immersed for quite a while as well. Long enough for Tatty to get home and make the grown-ups some dinner which we happily ate up outside watching the boys in wonder and play.


Once two, somewhat reluctant but very tired boys were hauled up for a bath and bedtime, I decided to set up a smaller scale Pesach provocation on our kids' table. This would greet them in the morning and kept them busy throughout the weekend that followed. While they start at the table, the pieces rarely remain there. Some are incorporated into block buildings. Some find their way to other areas or other uses and part of encouraging the boys to engage in this type of play is allowing for that (and working on skills to return objects appropriately when we are done). One of the best components of encouraging loose parts play before a big holiday is the fact that it is so independently led and run by the children. We can get a lot done while they are engaged in their play. There's still a lot to do to prepare for the holiday but for now, everyone is keeping pleasantly busy (most of the time) and, as always, happily playing!