“Let’s cozy up under a blanket” ~Loveable Quote
Have you ever attempted to bring fabric outdoors? What is it like? Does it get wet and dirty? Do you have specific fabrics to bring outside? What do you do with them? Do you use them in your early learning practice?
When we know the value of loose parts we recognize how they guide children’s learning to be meaningful to their development, and play. In my previous Loose Parts!! blog, I looked at natural loose parts and how they contribute to children’s play and learning.
Fabrics are a manufactured loose part that can act as a complementary material to other loose parts when engaging outdoors. Any educator who has offered children raw fabrics, blankets, or felt knows the children will find endless ways to turn fabrics into something else such as superhero capes, roofs for houses, or blankets for a picnics. Outdoors, fabric can act as many things that will feed children’s inquiry, interest and curiosity. How often do children receive opportunities to explore how they can connect fabrics with natural materials and loose parts such as bushes, logs, and leaves? The possibilities to use fabrics outdoors are as wide as a child’s imagination.
To test my own imagination, I took fabric outside.
My imagination is not as wide as a child’s, but just by bringing a blanket into a new environment, I thought of all the things children can do with it. From using it as a cape, to draping it over existing materials, I saw how children can be engaged in constructive and social play for days. Children are not limited by just forts and picnics when using materials outside. various materials, like any loose part, can be incorporated into their play to meet their play goals, provide opportunities for social interaction and collaboration, and invite engineering and technological engagement into their day.
To preserve fabrics, educators may consider using old fabrics outdoors rather than new one’s because it is more likely they will become torn and dirty, although that does not mean they should not be offered. To protect fabrics from weather, educators may want to fold fabrics and place them into a container for storage when they are not in active use by the children. Considering durable fabrics such as tarps are also more appropriate for outdoor conditions and are likely to last longer.
My favourite personal use with the fabric was creating a sit spot. After exercising my brain about all the things children could do with fabric, I sat and tuned into my surroundings. Birds singing back and forth, wind whispering through the street, and leaves flying by at this rare time of year were just a few things I noticed. Fabrics can provide a physical area for adults and children to regulate, exercise cognitive processes, and connect to nature which builds are ecological identity, something that is necessary for everyone to experience how it feels to be one with the greater world.
Try bringing fabric outside yourself and consider what you can do with it, or use it in reflective practice and create your own sit spot in an area that may not have comfortable places to sit. When educators are comfortable, they should offer fabrics to children and see watch what they do, document how they think, and see the learning that happens.
Miss Izabel - Educator, Advocate, and Learner 