Research Articles on Loose Parts Play

I decided to work smarter, not harder! I'm researching academic articles on loose parts play and realize that many of you are also are curious about this topic. Why not document some of what I am finding here so it is easier to find? I'm not going full APA formatting for you yet, but here are some useful studies and articles. If you look at these in Google Scholar, you can also see what articles cited these, which is helpful in getting the full breadth of the topic. I went through 35 pages of results for "loose parts" to find some we can all access online. As I read through these, I will try to update with information relevant from each, strengths, etc. I chose to organize this list by recency, with more recent articles up front. There are more available, but I am trying to choose ones people can actually access. :-) If you find others that may be applicable, please share!

Houser, Roach, Stone, Turner, and Kirk. (2016). Let the children play: Scoping review on the implementation and use of loose parts for promoting physical activity participation.



Spencer and Wright. (2014). Quality outdoor play spaces for young children. Direct download, but may need to search for the article directly).

Daly and Beloglovksy. (2014) Loose Parts: Inspiring play in young children. Book

Bundy, Luckett, et al. (2008). Playful Interaction: Occupational Therapy for All Children on the School Playground. 

Sutton. (2011). In the hand and mind: The intersection of loose parts and imagination in evocative settings for young children. Could not find open access link; however, here is a summary I wrote up about it.

Bundy, Luckett, Tranter, Naughton, Wyver, et al. (2009). The risk is there is 'no risk'; a simple innovative intervention to increase children's activity levels. 

Wilson. (2008). Why children play under the bushes.

Maxwell, Mitchell, Evans. (2008). Effects of play equipment and loose parts on preschool children's outdoor play behavior: An observational study and design intervention. 

Fjortot. (2004). Landscape as Playscape. The Effects of Natural Environments on Children's Play and Motor Development. 

Blizard and Schuster. (2004). They all cared about the forest.

Hart. (2002). Containing children : Some lessons on planning for play from New York City.

Fjortot. (2001). The natural environment as a playground for children: The impact of outdoor play activities in pre-primary school children. 

Wardle. (2000). Supporting constructive play in the wild.

White & Stoecklin. (1998). Children's outdoor play & earning environments: Returning to nature.

Patrick. (1996). Play: An important component of preventative behavior management. 

Jones. (1989). Inviting children into the fun: Providing enough activity choices outdoors.

Kirby. (1989). Nature as refuge in children's environments. Could not find an open access link; however, here is a summary I wrote up about it.

Francis. (1988). Negotiating between children and adult design values in open space projects.

Hart. (1982). Wildlands for children: Considerations of the value of natural environments in landscape planning.

Simon Nicholson. (1972).  The Theory of Loose Parts: An important principle for design methodology.  (link not working :-(
How NOT to Cheat Children: The Theory of Loose Parts--Here is my write up on it. I also did a series of quotes with pictures for the FB page Loose Parts Play.

Gibson, Cornell, Gill. (2017) A Systematic Review of Research into the Impact of Loose Parts Play on Children’s Cognitive, Social and Emotional Development


Non academic, yet useful to explore:
Thornhill. Loose parts by schema.

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