Through my observations I noticed the different properties of paper and through hands-on explorations, I became involved in the process of cause and effect ;how different papers respond to specific situations. I engaged myself with scientific investigation by thinking about how many ways we can change paper: cutting, tearing, folding, gluing, crumpling, soaking, and so on. What do these processes do to the paper? 

What are they?- Loose parts are open-ended materials such as boxes, crates, sheets, pipes, log rounds, buckets, blocks and rocks that children can adapt, move, design and transform in many different ways. They can be moved, combined, redesigned, lined up, taken apart and put back together in multiple ways (DET). A loose part may be a recycled item or something you purchase new at a hardware store, it can be small or large, natural or manufactured. Ultimately, loose parts encourage a variety of types of play to unfold, such as dramatic, constructive, artistic or physical and can be used with all age groups and children of all abilities

Limitations- when it comes to using loose parts is that they do not necessarily work for certain age groups. For example, toddler teachers seemingly always worry about dumping or choking and school-age teachers consistently worry children will not know what to do with loose parts. Although children may need practice and scaffolding when it comes to using loose parts, they are often a favorable material for all age groups.

Opportunities-  As seen Mini Maddern Square loose parts seems to invite and encourage children to play and construct, and also how the materials invite children and practitioners to play and learn on more equal terms. It appears that the material itself does not discriminate in that it gives all children equal opportunities regardless of their gender, culture, age, disability, language, ethnic background or history. 

From Sunday school to summer club, everywhere I went had a huge box full of junk and every parent that dropped their kids off would be weighed down with even more donations. Cardboard tubes, old cartons, lengths of material, cardboard boxes, bags of dried leaves and scraps of waste.

I remember making vehicles, rockets and space stations out of Junk. We had adventures in outer space, were cops and robbers, or mechanics carefully repairing cars. We made houses with rooms and furniture for pretend play.

Benefits
Junk modelling, loose parts play support a greater degree of flexible behavior and as such support innovation,  creativity,  develop self-confidence, self-concept and identity. Even skills such as sequencing, hypothesis testing, analysis and evaluation.

-Loris Malaguzzi, Founder of the Reggio Emilia Approach

 Loris Malaguzzi suggests that children have a hundred languages in which to explore, create and express themselves; open-ended resources such as these encourage children to do exactly that. For example- Through construction, children could use rocks, shells, coloured stones and more to add depth, balance and imagination to their designs and extend and build upon mathematical concepts.
- They are opportunities for creative expression
- This support the Reggio Emilia philosophy that art should not necessarily have a defined end but instead be open-ended to encourage children to experiment and explore the possibilities of art.

The clay was definitely harder and messier than playdough and became “muddy” when I added a little water as it was too dry.

Malleability~

What is so cool about clay (besides that it is easy and cheap to get) is that it is squishy when it is wet, so you can make it any shape you like, and then it dries hard in the sun, pretty fast, as the water evaporates out.
If you dry clay in the sun you can make it soft again just by throwing it in a bucket of water and waiting a week or two.

History~
People first began to fire clay in China and Japan about 14000 BC (Quatr.us 2021). A little later, people in Iraq and Brazil and Mississippi and Peru and other places also started to make pottery. People have invented pottery many times in many different places. People used clay for statues too. The Etruscans and people from China and West Africa But potters also used fired clay to make dishes and plates and cups and cookpots.