What is Open-Ended Play?
Mendo LEAP is designed with open-ended play in mind.
There are many different types of play in early childhood.
Open-ended play can be described as play that gives children the freedom to make choices with no limitations or rules. In open-ended play, children can make their own decisions and there is no right or wrong way to do things. There are no specific outcomes and it is all about the process (as opposed to the end product.) Open-ended play is about having fun and laying a healthy foundation to develop a love of learning. To promote open-ended play, you can give children open-ended learning tools to play with such as:
blocks
magnetic tiles
playdough
dolls
animal figures
art supplies
That said, open-ended learning tools don’t have to be toys…
My four-year-old son recently showed us a great example of what open-ended play can look like. I hear, ‘Hey, Mama, come look! We are pretending the big box you gave us is a drive-in movie theatre! Here’s where the movie screen is and here’s where we sit. Can we have pillows to make it cozy?’
He turned a cardboard box into a drive-in movie theater using his imagination!
Why is Open-Ended Play Important?
Open-ended play is very important in early childhood development. It promotes imagination and creativity in children rather than restricting them with guidelines or rules. It also helps children learn problem-solving skills by allowing them to act out pretend scenarios. It enhances their vocabulary skills and helps with social-emotional development. Open-ended play helps children engage (and stay engaged) in play and helps them to love learning. In my son’s example, he was using the cardboard box to imagine a real life scenario that will help him navigate real life scenarios in a healthy way later in life. He was also using planning and problem-solving skills, both of which are important to develop in early childhood.
To understand what open-ended play means for a child let’s look at this from a definition standpoint and break down the phrase itself.
Open-Ended (adj): unrestricted, without determined, rules, limits, or boundaries.
Play (noun): engagement in an activity that gives a sense of enjoyment in recreational activities, utilized most by children.
So … what is open-ended play? It is play with no direction, limits, rules, or interference. It is letting a child use their imagination free from predefined limits.
Does this mean you should let your child go in the kitchen and “play” with the oven? No.
Open-ended play should be done in a safe space, with access to open-ended toys and indirect adult supervision or interference. Mendo LEAP is built with just this kind of play in mind, with lots of access to open-ended play tools we mentioned earlier and more! Blocks, magnetic tiles, silks, and art supplies are always ready for your little one to safely explore.
