Buhata
Login Start for Free

Home › Life Terms

Parenting and child development

Open-ended play

Play with toys or materials that have no single right way to use them, like blocks, boxes or playdough, so the child decides what they become.

What It Means

Open-ended play is play with toys or materials that can be used in many ways, with no instructions and no single right result. A set of blocks can be a tower, a road or a zoo fence, and the child decides. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and HeadStart.gov both describe these materials, sometimes called loose parts, as ones children use by their own ideas rather than by a toy's design.

Try It: Sort Toys Into Open-Ended or One Way

Sort each toy. Open-ended means many ways to use it; one way means it mostly does one thing. The toys are examples.

A cardboard box
A toy that plays the same song when a button is pressed
Wooden blocks
A jigsaw puzzle
Playdough
Sorted0
Correct0

How Parents Say It

  • "He ignored the toy and played with the box for an hour."
  • "We swapped the light-up stuff for plain blocks."
  • "She turned the scarves into a river, then a cape."

The Breakdown

Open-ended ideas by age. These are examples; check each package's age label.

AgeOpen-ended materials to try
ToddlersToddlerA child from 1 to 3 years old, the stage CDC's parenting guidance places between infancy and the preschool years. See moreLarge blocks, stacking cups, cardboard boxes, scarves, water and sand with scoops
PreschoolersPreschoolerA child from 3 to 5 years old, the age band the CDC uses for its preschool parenting guidance. See moreUnit blocks, playdough, paint, dress-up clothes, loose parts like pine cones, stones, fabric and ribbons
School ageBuilding sets, art supplies, cardboard and tape, outdoor sticks and stones for building

Why it helps. HeadStart.gov says handling loose parts builds sensory and motor skills and strengthens problem-solving, because children combine the pieces in new ways. The AAP's 2019 report on toys names traditional favorites such as blocks, shapes and puzzles as good for problem solving, and its AAP News coverage made the point that the best toys for development are neither electronic nor costly.

Try it today. Put out a box, some tape and a few spoons, and let your child decide what to do with them. Resist the urge to show the "right" way.

Good to Know

Loose parts like bottle caps, stones and beads can be small enough to choke a baby or toddler. Keep them for children who no longer put things in their mouths, and stay nearby while they play. A puzzle or a shape sorter isn't a bad toy for having one answer: children learn different things from both kinds, and the AAP's report includes both among useful toys.

FAQ

What are open-ended toys?

Toys and materials that can be used in many ways with no single right result, such as blocks, a cardboard box, playdough, scarves or art supplies. NAEYC describes them as materials with no set instructions.

What's the difference between open-ended and closed-ended toys?

An open-ended toy leaves the result up to the child. A closed-ended toy, like a puzzle or a toy that plays one song, has one main way to use it or one finished result.

Are expensive toys better for development?

Not according to the AAP. Its 2019 toy report and AAP News coverage say the best toys for development are simple, traditional ones like blocks, and they don't have to be electronic or expensive.

Do It in Buhata

Shopping

Add simple open-ended supplies like painter's tape, paper and playdough to the Shopping list in your Household Space in Buhata, so whoever is at the store can pick them up.

Open Buhata

Related Terms and Categories

  • Unstructured play

    Play a child chooses and directs, with no adult-set rules, lesson or goal, like making up a game in the yard or building whatever comes to mind.

  • Pretend play

    Play in which a child acts out something that isn't real, like feeding a doll, using a block as a phone, or being a superhero.

  • Sensory play

    Play that invites a child to touch, squish, pour, smell, listen and look, such as sand, water, playdough or textured materials.

  • Benefits of boredom

    The idea that unstructured, unfilled time can help children build creativity, problem solving and the ability to entertain themselves.

  • Cognitive development

    How a child's learning, thinking and problem-solving grow, from finding a dropped toy to drawing shapes and counting.

Parenting and child development

Sources

NAEYC, "Message in a Backpack: Harnessing the Joy of Open-Ended Materials with Your Child" (Teaching Young Children, Summer 2022); HeadStart.gov, "Let Your Imagination Loose with Loose Parts"; American Academy of Pediatrics, "Selecting Appropriate Toys for Young Children in the Digital Era" (Pediatrics, 2019); AAP News, "Best toys for children's development? Hint: They are not electronic or costly"

Last updated .