Rather than telling children what to play with or giving them obvious toys and playground equipment to use, teachers and early childhood educators from across Orange have been encouraged to endorse the initiative known as loose parts play.

About 30 participants attended a workshop on the concept at the CWA Hall on Thursday hosted by staff of Australian based training and consultancy company Malarky PLAYwork.

Brought to Orange by CareWest Ability Links NSW, the loose parts are ambiguous items such as rope, tarps, cardboard and boxes that children can move, adapt and manipulate to be whatever they want using their initiative and working together.

CareWest child and family services senior manager Jenny Nalder said the idea of bringing loose parts play to Orange was to encourage more inclusive play and overcome the restrictions brought about by risk management assessments.

“I think play has changed a lot due to the introduction of risk management, a lot of services have looked at things and asked does the risk override the benefits of play,” Mrs Nalder said.

Catherine McAuley Catholic Primary School year 6 teacher Brooke Church said the school had already started that style of play in term four last year and has a permanent area set up in the school but created a larger pop-up adventure playground for the workshop participants to see the children in action on Friday.

“They are building cubbyhouses, they are building shops, they are building ships, they are experimenting with the things, how they build and work and stretch and rip,” Mrs Church said.

tanya.marschke@fairfaxmedia.com.au