Loose Parts Mandalas

I miss doing invitations to play with my kiddo sometimes, so I set up this loose parts mandala play just for myself, but of course if you have little kids they will enjoy it, too.

What’s an Invitation to Play?

An invitation to play, when it comes to kids, is when someone sets up a project or play situation for them and just leaves it out to see what happens.

It can be as simple as setting out a piece of paper and some paints or some playdough and seasonal cookie cutters, sensory bins, a box full of pompoms and bowls for sorting, or even holiday themed boxes full of stuff of different colors for kids to explore.

They are meant to be open ended, child led and something that sparks their imagination in ways you might not have expected when you set it up.

The idea is that it invites them to explore different things, and they can be obviously educational (like a station for writing or counting practice) or less so, but there is always learning happening when kids (and adults!) are playing.

What Are Loose Parts?

Loose parts are all the little bits and bobs that kids seem to have an endless supply of. It can be things like:

• beads
• buttons
• pompoms
• shells, pinecones, rocks and other natural materials
• glass rocks
• plastic gems
• counters
• coins
• wooden pieces

There’s a great list of loose parts at Mama Megan AllySA if you need more ideas, but I’m sure once you start looking around the house you’ll find you already have a lot of things.

For my loose parts mandala play I grabbed some beads and buttons, Mardi Gras doubloons, shells, craft sticks, plastic gems and jingle bells.

Loose Parts Mandala Play

If you’re setting this up for someone else you can arrange some items on a tray like I did, or you can just raid your loose parts collection for the things you want to use. I ended up looking for specific things in different colors so I had all the bags handy that these things normally live in. This was a pretty fun sensory experience, too.

To make it easier and give kids some direction on what they might do with these parts, I also made a circle by cutting out the bottom of a paper plate. You could also use a simple mandala coloring page and have them fill it in with loose parts. Lemons and Lattes has some good ones.

If you’re setting up this loose parts mandala activity for someone else you might leave a simple example to the side so they get the idea. Or you could draw simple shapes on a circle to see if they fill them in.

Mandalas are geometric, symmetrical designs, and they can be quite complex but of course yours don’t have to be any of those things.

I had a good time playing with all this stuff, and even though it was only about 15 minutes, it was a great little stress crafting break. It’s sort of like doing a puzzle but you can do it in minutes and make it different every time.

This would be fun to leave out where everyone in the family can play with it and see what different designs people come up with. Or just do it for yourself.

For kids, this is a great way to explore repeating patterns and symmetry, but even if they just make happy faces or fill in the circle with a bunch of random stuff, it’s sure to be fun for them.

Do you give yourself invitations to play as an adult? Would you make a loose parts mandala? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Looking for more easy invitations to play for kids using loose parts? Check out my found object snowman activity that ties into the book Snowballs by Lois Ehlert.