Encouraging Risky Play Through Our New Loose-Parts Equipment in Foundation Stage

This term, our Foundation Stage children have been thrilled to explore a new collection of large loose-parts designed to inspire adventurous, child-led play. Working closely with our play-equipment partner, we designed ladders, climbing boxes, barrels, planks and wheels. All simple materials that children can move, combine and transform in endless ways.

The design is inspired by the principles of Anji Play, an approach that champions ‘true play’: deep, uninterrupted engagement in activities children choose for themselves. By offering open-ended materials, we create an environment where children lead their learning, take meaningful risks and collaborate naturally.

Through climbing, balancing, lifting and constructing, children strengthen gross-motor skills and develop coordination and spatial awareness. Just as importantly, they learn to assess risk. Children deciding how to climb or how to stabilise a plank, thus building resilience and confidence. The open-ended nature of the equipment also sparks creativity; a barrel becomes a boat, a ladder becomes a bridge and a plank becomes a runway for imaginative stories.

This new provision nurtures physical development, problem-solving, collaboration and joyful play. All whilst empowering children to build, explore and discover what they are truly capable of.