The term ‘Loose Parts’ was coined by Simon Nicholson, a British architect and designer whose parents were artists Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson. He wrote a paper called The Theory of Loose Parts: How not to cheat Children in 1971, and this has become hugely influential in the ensuing decades since. In it he speaks about what he calls “variables” and this has often been associated just with open-ended materials such as natural or recycled materials, but his idea about “variables” included phenomena that could be played around with such as music, gravity, words, concepts and ideas (Robinson, 2017).
Like Loris Malaguzzi (1920 – 1994) of the schools in Reggio Emilia, Italy, Nicholson also believed that creativity was not reserved for the gifted few, but that all children were born as creative beings, curious about the world and keen to experiment and discover new things. But that they required an environment in which they could discover things, experiment in meaningful ways, and develop their curiosity. Nicholson encourages us to participate with children’s sense of enquiry, inventiveness, and intrigue to learn about the world which means leaving room for the child to invent, innovate and create with materials or “variables” with the essential quality of being able to play around with them.
