Meaning of Play with Loose Parts Materials in Preschool Education: A Case Study

This study aimed to determine the opinions of preschool teachers on loose parts materials (LP) and the reflections of these opinions in practice. This study, which was conducted by the qualitative research method, adopted the case study design (ERASMUS+ KA229). The purposive sampling method was used to select participants for this study. The research was carried out at a public school in the Etimesgut district of Ankara province, Turkey. This school was participating in a European Union project called Learn by Design.This project aims to improve children's creativity, conceptual understanding, and overall developmental levels through the use of LP. It was planned to be carried out between September 2019 and June 2022.The participants of the study consisted of seven preschool teachers who will actively implement the project during the 2020-2021 school year. To further deepen the research and show the reflections of the project in practice, the project's product output posts on social media (photos and videos) from the same school year were also included.The obtained data were analyzed using the content analysis technique. In this study, it was determined that integrating LP into educational environments increased children's learning motivation, general happiness, and positive social behaviors, increased parent participation by strengthening parent-school communication and interaction, supported children in numerous ways, and contributed to their holistic development, as well as assisted children in becoming independent, competent individuals who create, discover, and innovate.