Try Google-ing “open ended play benefits” and you will come across a whole list of webpages telling you all the good reasons of open ended play. So our stackies team trolled through the Internet to compile you a condensed list, along with our own take on it too.
1. Fosters creativity and imagination
Yes, creativity! A soon to be highly sought after trait in future leaders (according to Forbes). Open ended play does not come with a rule book, no game guide, no instruction manual. Its free play! And since there is no “correct” or “wrong” way of playing, there are no limitations as to how it should be played. Give the child a rule book, they will follow it once, maybe twice of thrice. Subsequent after that? They bend the rules! Why? Because a developing mind needs space to be creative, to imagine and to think out of the box. Similarly if you hand them a regular toy, they will play with it once, twice, maybe thrice, and they get tired of it. Because their developing minds are not challenged. They (and we) may not know it, but children’s minds loves to be challenged.
2. More open to test, explore and experiment with new ideas
Open ended play provides an environment where there is no fear of making mistakes because there is no correct answer, hence there is no such thing as a “mistake”. Children are given the space and freedom to think, imagine and create new concepts and play ideas, and then to test their theories themselves to see if their concepts are practical enough for the real world.
“What the hand does, the mind remembers” ~ Dr Maria Montessori.
Open ended play aids the learning mind. And in our opinion, these children also grow up to be more risk taking and resilient too.
3. Decision making, critical thinking & Problem Solving
Leading on from testing their concepts in the practical world, the child gets to decide if that is the result they are expecting, and if it is not, they get to decide again if they want to give it another go. Given no instruction manual for reference, their minds are also challenged to question “what went wrong?”and “how do I solve it?”.
4. Promotes Independence
Open-ended play lets children take charge. They decide what to play, how to play, and when to change directions. This kind of self-directed play is empowering and helps build confidence.
5. Strengthens Social and Communication Skills
When young children engage in open-ended play sessions, they learn to communicate, negotiate, share, and collaborate. Whether they’re building a train track or hosting a pretend tea party, they’re developing important social skills in a natural way.
And some bonus for the parents!
Bonus! Some “me time” for the parents (finally)
One for the parents! In our opinion, once your child is introduced to open ended play, we are pretty certain they will be so engaged with the endless hours of fun and independent play. So your mama-coffee will no longer be left to turn cold. Just be sure you don’t start to miss the feeling of being always wanted and needed.
Ready to own an open ended toy? Take a quick detour to our stackies modular play couch shop just around the corner!