The nature of open-ended play stimulates curiosity and allows your child to become absorbed in their own imagination. They become fully engaged in learning, enabling them to stretch their cognitive skills when thinking critically to lead and make choices. This type of play is especially beneficial while their brains are still rapidly developing, and will eventually support them when they become adults. It can also become a fantastic opportunity for you to teach new concepts and language skills, as it promotes interaction and encourages conversation while you play together. 

When you and your child engage in role-play, whether that's pretending to be pirates sailing the seas and hunting for treasure, or lords and ladies at a grand palatial ball, you assist with their social and emotional development. That's because when they pretend to be a different character, they can explore and express a range of emotions that differ from what they would usually feel. It also helps them to read the emotions and social cues of others, based on your reactions and expressions while you play. This opens up the opportunities to learn essential concepts such as empathy, cognitive flexibility and self-regulation as well as developing memory skills. They will also learn to play more cooperatively with others, which is so incredibly important for those later stages of childhood!

How do children learn from open-ended play?

Open-ended play offers a wide array of opportunities. Because the materials come with no specific directions, guides or rules, they can be used any way your child wants! Those materials can be moved, carried, combined with others, redesigned, ordered, taken apart and reassembled as many ways as your little one wants to. Our Silicone Star Stacker set is perfect for this kind of play!   

Unlike battery-operated toys that only require your child to push a button and reduce their role during playtime to that of an audience, open-ended toys get your child thinking and learning and discovering. Playing with these materials requires your child to be actively involved in finding all the ways these toys can be used, and what to do with them. By discovering what the outcomes of their decisions and actions are for themselves, they are able to learn much more efficiently than with other toys!