Tuesday 24 July 2012

Loose parts play: pipe cleaners

I love activities that are spontaneous. The Fairy loves activities that involve loose parts (for those not familiar with this term - it literally means loose parts - bits that a child can manipulate/ create / collect / transport with). This morning as I was getting The Frog ready to go out the Fairy was getting creative with some pipe cleaners. I came back to find some impressive sculptures. She called them balloons as she was creating (I think this maybe linked to several parties we have been to recently have had balloon modellers)



Later in the day we had another go


twisting


and squashing



she called this one a swishy



and this one is a dinosaur. How does your child play with pipe cleaners? Do they like loose parts play? 

9 comments:

  1. I saw a picture of pipe cleaners in a bottle the other day, cut into little bits so you can manipulate them with a magnet - thought of you! I think it was on Pinterest but I can't find it there now. It's on this list though... http://pre-schoolplay.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/discovery-bottles.html

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  2. OOoh that sounds cool (and a 'safeish' way to learn about magnetism with a baby in the house i.e. limited small bits for his big sis to drop on the floor for him to find, will still need to keep a careful eye on the magnet tho!). There's sooo much stuff on pintrest- I love it

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  3. Oh my kids ADORE just playing with pipecleaners. So colouful, tactile and well, bendy!

    Thanks for sharing on Kids Get Crafty!

    Maggy

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  4. My girl likes to use them to tease the cat, so we make cat toys of sorts with them!

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  5. I keep some in our church bag, as they make great quiet toys, but are great for the imagination! I also like to include things they can get tangled in them! :)

    Darci

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  6. How delightfully resourceful and creative. Thank you for sharing this wonderful post with the Weekly Kid's Co-op. I'm Pauline and I blog over at http://lessonslearntjournal.com. I will feature this post as part of my roundup of this week's linky party and also pin a picture from your post onto our very popular Weekly Kids' Co-op Pinterest board :).

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  7. Yay for pipe cleaners! They really do open up quite a few possibilities. Thank you for linking up to The Sunday Showcase.

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  8. I've never thought of doing that with pipe cleaners, so simple but so fun!

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