What is an open ended toys? 10 Types of open ended toys that best for children
/There are many open ended toys on Instagram especially in Western countries. I heard that open ended toys are good for children, but I don’t really know what the benefits are. To put it simply, open ended play is to follow the children's intuition to make what they want, learn from mistakes, accumulate a sense of accomplishment, and develop into a more flexible future person.
As parents, what is even more worrying than guiding my children to play with open ended toys? Don't be afraid, in this article I will introduce to you what open ended toys are. What are the benefits of playing with open ended toys?
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If you come to an environment where there is no right or wrong and no standard, no one will correct you, no matter what you do or say. Would you be happy and feeling released? Or do you feel anxiously overwhelmed?
I think most adults will immediately question “Does it even exist?" More people tend to be overwhelmed, but it doesn't matter. This is the common feature of our growing up in a standard environment.
But do you know? Now children are still in a relatively standardized education environment, accepting guidance that does not meet the needs of the times, and only after they enter the society, they discover that the world is not what they imagined.
How to let the next generation have strong adaptability and professionalism is the most important topic for us, parents.
What is an open ended toys? 10 Types of open ended toys that best for children
What is an open ended toys?
If you want to understand open ended toy, you must first understand what is "a not open ended toy”? Let's call it standard toy. For example, in the Gundam parts set bought from the toy store, the child assembles the model by hand. In this process, do you think it is open or standard?
The view of early childhood educators is that it is good to do it by hand, but assembling with parts designed by others, this is a standard gameplay, which lacks integrated thinking and creativity.
Open game is a form of game with 90% children and 10% toys. In the process, children are the dominant players, toys are auxiliary materials, and the purpose of the game is ‘the process’.
Open play emphasizes the process. For example, we should focus on the process of building a simulated zoo, not just whether he builds a correct zoo.
The core spirit of open games coincides is STEM education.
To put it simply, open play is to follow the children's intuition to make what they want, learn from their mistakes, accumulate a sense of accomplishment, and develop into a more flexible future person.
The benefits of open ended play and toys
The characteristics of low structure and high construction of open toys give children opportunities to explore and grow. Therefore, foreign countries will also use "Invitation to Play" to describe it, which means "invite" children to take the initiative to play.
1. The opportunity to become a leader
Open ended game is a game without rules or at least children are the one who creating the rules. During the process, children have the opportunity to decide for themselves how to accomplish the goal. For example, if you want to build a castle, you have to think about what shape of material to use, what color to choose, and so on.
This is a good opportunity to cultivate children's independent judgment, so that they can deal with difficult problems more skillfully and make independent decisions when they grow up.
2. Opportunities to solve the problem
Take the above-mentioned castle as an example. What if the castle collapses in half? If you can't find a suitable part, what can be used instead? Or make one yourself?
3. Unlimited opportunities for creativity
What will the castle looks like is entirely up to the child to imagine, decide, and then create. Adults can guide him in the process, but he does not tell him "what the castle should look like", "the tree must be green" or "the roof must have an attic." First follow the child's expectations and intuition, although in the end he builds a hot air balloon, it is also the best result!
Types of open ended toys
What is an open ended toys?
Simply say, all toys that can be used for multiple times and multiple games can be called open toys.
Seeing this, you might still be confused. Let's start with the toys we can usually see!
1. Build blocks
Simple, good-textured wooden toys are classics of open ended toys. It is suitable for children to play alone or with others. Because it is simple enough and has no rules, it is very suitable for creativity.
Apart from geometric shapes, building blocks have no redundant design. Children can stack and piece together a block at will. This process is an open ended gameplay!
Read more: What is STEM.org certification? Why do I need a STEM certification?
2. Dolls/Puppets
Huh? Is there an open ended way to play dolls too? We generally think that dolls are "designed" toys, and there should be no room for flexible extension, but did you know? Dolls are also an indispensable element in open gameplay!
These dolls are the representatives of a villain in the hands of children. They can take them to play in the castle they built, or they can let the villain slide down from the pillows. The whole home is an amusement park!
When we tell stories, we use dolls or puppets as characters, which is more vivid. In the same way, when children develop games or extend their imagination, they will also need puppets to assist them!
3. Anything with neutral color
There are many kitchen utensils, tool boxes, doctor toys, etc. in the house, right? These don’t look like open gameplay, but they are not! Open ended toys do not lie in the toy itself, but pay more attention to how you play with it.
For example, children can let the dolls float on the water on the bowls or plates then start a little adventure, allowing the children to experience life and discover themselves without restriction, which is also one of the benefits of open ended play. Pay attention to not being restricted by gender when providing materials. It is best to choose neutral color, which reduces the chance of children's creativity being dominated by the meaning of color.
4. Pretend play and dress up
Dress up, props and costumes should be children’s essential toys. Girls may like princesses and mermaids, while boys like racers and Spider-Man. If your children like that, you can prepare more of these props and costumes at home. When the children's friends come over, they can also play together. They negotiate and plan on their own. Maybe a self-directed and self-acted stage play will be produced.
The colorful silk scarves like the ones you have seen are hot-selling children's products in the United States! Because silk scarves are soft and changeable, in addition to being used as clothing, children can be used as wings, tents, flags, etc., so foreign countries even create unique ways to play silk scarves. Isn’t it interesting?
5. Brushes, paints and cardboard
Art creation allows children to inspire creativity and beauty, and help children prepare art supplies. They can use recycled materials such as cartons, clay, and bottles to create.
Read more: Recommended bath toys
6. Toys that can generate rhythm and music
Music is another broad and imaginative world. We need to give children some small objects that allow them to enter and start exploring the world. Some are very simple or even self-made. For example, a pot and a spoon are good "metronomes". They can play more complicated ones when they grow up. Small drum kits, electronic organs, etc. are all very good toys.
7. Sports toys
Ball, skipping rope, frisbee, etc., which is also very beneficial. Not only can they exercise, but these simple sports toys are good items that inspire children to come up with a variety of ways to play.
You can also find that some kindergartens have large-scale wood, cement, old tires, etc. in the outdoor spaces. These items are used to inspire children to use their bodies to play a set of their own games!
8. Animal shape toys
The usage of animal shape toys is very similar to dolls. Whether it is farm animals, zoo animals or dinosaurs, children can enter a world full of imagination. A group of animals is a small society, and children will spend a lot of time studying the relationship, dialogue and struggle between them.
The animal shape toys itself has no redundant design, it is easy to combine with the building blocks or loose materials in the home, so it is also fun to make things together!
9. Construction toys
The most common construction toy is LEGO. This kind of toy is more difficult than wooden building blocks. There are different shapes of blocks and the combination of different blocks is also different. Children need to keep trying, designing, and even knocking out and restarting. Train the small muscles and mind.
10. Teaching tools and board games
Board games have fixed rules of the game, but children must think deeply about various strategies while observing the rules, so as to exercise their problem-solving skills.
Read more: Playing with Dena toys
Many parents worry that they don’t have time to play with, or don’t know how to guide their children. This is all normal! How to start an open ended game, it is recommended to start with preparing materials. The easiest way is to buy building blocks, buy some dolls or animal shape toys, and show them directly to the children. When the child is older, he can choose to construct toys, follow the instructions at first, and then slowly learn to make the shape he wants.
The main concept is to find materials at your home, use recycle waste, such as cartons, bottles, or even flowers, grass, buttons, and many more. Let your children play freely!