Preschool Children’s Loose Parts Play and the Relationship to Cognitive Development: A Review of the Literature
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. What Is Loose Parts Play?
1.2. What Is Unique about Loose Parts Play?
1.3. What Is the Status of Research on Loose Parts Play?
- Key Points
- Loose Parts Play (LPP) focuses on utilizing materials that offer multiple possibilities, enabling children to engage in diverse play experiences and develop cognitive capacities like executive function and cognitive self-regulation. LPP provides flexibility and adaptability, allowing children to manipulate, combine, and transform loose parts in countless ways, thereby facilitating open-ended play experiences.
- Research on LPP is limited, especially regarding its developmental benefits for cognitive development. Existing studies primarily focus on outdoor LPP and its impact on physical and social development. More research is needed, particularly on young children’s indoor LPP and its influence on cognitive functioning, considering factors such as the child’s age or family socio-economic status.
- Play, including loose parts play, is fundamental in childhood and significantly impacts children’s cognitive development. The open-ended nature of loose parts play fosters divergent thinking and flexible problem-solving approaches.
- Symbolic and pretend play promote cognitive skills such as symbolic substitution, dual representation, language development, executive function, self-regulation, and problem-solving. Loose parts play also supports constructive play, stimulating cognitive advancement, problem-solving, and higher-level thinking, while enhancing social interaction and communication skills.
- Further research is needed to explore the specific impact of loose parts on children’s play while considering the effects of a child’s cognitive development, age, socio-economic status, and cultural differences.
2. How Do Specific Types of Play with Loose Parts Impact Young Children’s Cognitive Development?
2.1. Object and Exploratory Play with Loose Parts
2.2. Symbolic and Pretend Play with Loose Parts
2.3. Constructive Play with Loose Parts
3. Conclusions and Future Directions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Cankaya, O.; Rohatyn-Martin, N.; Leach, J.; Taylor, K.; Bulut, O. Preschool Children’s Loose Parts Play and the Relationship to Cognitive Development: A Review of the Literature. J. Intell. 2023, 11, 151. https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence11080151
Cankaya O, Rohatyn-Martin N, Leach J, Taylor K, Bulut O. Preschool Children’s Loose Parts Play and the Relationship to Cognitive Development: A Review of the Literature. Journal of Intelligence. 2023; 11(8):151. https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence11080151
Chicago/Turabian StyleCankaya, Ozlem, Natalia Rohatyn-Martin, Jamie Leach, Keirsten Taylor, and Okan Bulut. 2023. "Preschool Children’s Loose Parts Play and the Relationship to Cognitive Development: A Review of the Literature" Journal of Intelligence 11, no. 8: 151. https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence11080151