Recently, I had the opportunity to be part of a segment on Toronto’s Breakfast Television to talk about the return of the “90s kid summer” and why many parents might be finding their kids struggling to figure out what to do with all their free time. At the beginning of summer, parents were all over social media sharing their plans for giving their kids a 90s kid summer. Those posts have quieted down, and I believe it’s because it wasn’t working out quite like they envisioned. And that’s...

Amelia’s Loose Part Art was always meant to be a series. It had to be. Loose parts play is not simple or one-dimensional. It is a theory filled with nuance, trust, risk-taking, creativity, and problem-solving. Over time, I began noticing that many children were arriving at school without the foundational skills needed to fully engage in open-ended play. And because loose parts do not come with instructions, those gaps were becoming more visible. Play is supposed to come naturally to...

When people hear the term “loose parts,” they often picture small object like buttons, shells, rocks, bottle caps, and other small materials. While these materials support creativity and fine motor development, they are only one part of the picture. Large loose parts invite a different kind of learning. They ask children to move their bodies, work with others, test ideas at a larger scale (with greater risk), and create immersive play experiences. Whether children are arranging branches...