Loose Parts for Children with Diverse Abilities - by Miriam Beloglovsky (Paperback)

About the Book

"Award-winning author and educator Miriam Beloglovsky advocates for play for play sake and invites early childhood educators and families to see children with diverse abilities' strengths, recognize them as capable, competent and creative, and listen to their powerful voices. This book addresses the importance of play while providing appropriate accommodation to support young children with diverse abilities"--

Book Synopsis

Play is a magnificent activity that sustains life and promotes joy and hopefulness. Loose Parts for Children with Diverse Abilities addresses the importance of play while providing appropriate accommodation to support young children with diverse abilities.

Award-winning author and educator Miriam Beloglovsky advocates for play for play sake and invites early childhood educators and families to see children with diverse abilities' strengths, recognize them as capable, competent and creative, and listen to their powerful voices.

With hundreds of illustrative full-color photographs and infused with real stories of children with diverse abilities engaged in loose parts play, the book also includes narrative comments from families and educators.

Review Quotes

Approaching Miriam Beloglovsky's Loose Parts for Children with Diverse Abilities is a bit like playing. First, I thumb through the book, relishing the many artful photographs. Then I stop at a photo spread that intrigues me, taking in the details. Looking at the pictures leads me to reading the captions, which leads me to reading the section. Then I am inspired to flip through again and repeat the process, finding a section that inspires me in the moment. Before I know it, I have read the entire book, not in logical order but following my heart. The joy of reading the book mimics the experience of Loose Parts. Loose Parts for Children with Diverse Abilities is for every child in every program because every child has abilities unique to themselves. Beloglovsky unapologetically uses a strengths-based approach that only play can provide, reminding us to focus on children's joy rather than assessing skills and striving for mastery.  

--Mike Huber, MAed, author of Inclusion Includes Us, co-host of Teaching with the Body in Mind podcast, and Curriculum Specialist at St. David's Center for Child and Family Development, Minnetonka, MN

From her vast experience of Loose Parts, Miriam Beloglovsky has created a wonderful resource for educators of young children. With clear and beautiful pictures and concrete examples, she shows us how to expand and adapt Loose Parts to all children, including children with diverse abilities. She never dwells on what a child cannot do or a child's limitations but focuses on what ALL children CAN do in this marvelous celebration of open-ended play.

--Sandra Heidemann, MS, coauthor of When Play Isn't Easy and When Play Isn't Fun

Miriam Belgovsky has given us an essential and inspiring illustration of how Loose Parts nurture the body and mind, and how their natural adaptability supports children's curiosity, creativity, and learning. Besides showing how to use loose parts to foster (and recognize) children's strengths, this volume functions as a fantastic introduction to brain development, sensory integration, critical thinking, and most of all, the intersection of inclusion, inquiry and equity. --Todd Wanerman, Early Childhood Education Mentor and Consultant, co-author, Including One, Including All: A Guide to Relationship-based Early Childhood Inclusion

Page after page, this artistry of Loose Parts is thought provoking and unapologetically bold in naming the call to action for early learning programs to create culturally sustaining ecosystems that promotes anti-racist and anti-ableist systems and initiatives. It does so while balancing the invitation and cultivation of imagination, collaboration, and a free flow and exchange of ideas blooming with possibilities that centers children's innate play narratives. 

--LaWanda Wesley, EdD, former Director of Quality Enhancement & Professional Development, Oakland Unified School District 

About the Author

Miriam Beloglovsky, MA, is a professor of early childhood education at Cosumnes River College, where she has advised and guided students for over 25 years. She is the coauthor of the Loose Parts series and Early Learning Theories Made Visible.