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Allowing kids to direct the play process can help them build valuable life long skills.
What is open ended play?
Have you ever observed your child creating something totally out-of-this-world using blocks? How about them picking up dry leaves and wooden sticks at the park to fiddle with? And all of these happened without any instructions from you. If these apply, your child has actually participated in open-ended play, whereby there are no rules or limitations to play.
Parenting experts agree that open-ended play is immensely valuable for children, especially those in their preschool years. It has been found to improve kids’ learning skills, self-regulation ability, motor skills (both gross and fine) and creativity.
7 Open Ended Play Home Ideas
One particularly influential advocate of open-ended play has been Juliana Ong, a former preschool educator and now Play Parenting Coach at Stories of Play.
Based in Australia and a busy mother to four girls, Juliana regularly shares personal experiences and research-backed information for parents looking to introduce play-based learning at home. She shares with us a few nifty ideas on how you too can encourage your child to engage in open-ended play.
1. Set no end goal or structure
Normalise child-led play, whereby your kid is free to play however he or she wants. There should be no pressure for your child to achieve specific learning outcomes – trust that your child will pick up the necessary skills along the way. These skills may include problem solving, innovating ideas, and asking good questions to satiate their curiosity.
If you child is playing with Grimm’s rainbow for example, give him or her space to imagine and create. Take a step back and observe what your child does with the curved blocks. A tower? Sure. A mermaid’s tail? Great! A tiny town? Awesome. The idea is for the child to engage in imaginative play that is not restricted by anyone’s expectations or demands. There is no right or wrong way to play!
2. Playing is learning
The key is to give children the freedom to explore the toys or materials according to their abilities. An older child who arranges blocks side by side may discover the concept of fractions when they realise that two equally-sized short blocks make the length of one long block.
A younger child may consequently pick up the idea of addition. More importantly, in open-ended play, kids can practice hand-eye coordination and balancing which are essential to their physical and cognitive development.
3. Choose toys with replay value
There is no specific toy that your child must have in order for open-ended play to happen.
However, if a toy can be enjoyed by your child from when they are a baby till when they are much older, chances are that it is a good open-ended toy!
A battery-operated car may look enticing, but for how long can it excite your children? The outcomes that your children can expect from such toys are quite fixed: “The car will only move when I press a button”.
This is as opposed to the endless possibilities that your child can create out of magnetic tiles or building blocks. Such toys may seem costly at first, but they can potentially last for years, especially if you can pass them down to your younger children. It’s all about the value the toy brings to your child’s play experience. For example, here are 10 ways to play and learn with magnetic tiles.
That being said, a good toy doesn’t necessarily has to be expensive. If an object or material can be explored and used in multiple ways, then it serves as a toy that invites discovery.
So, the next time your shopping loot gets delivered, keep the boxes around and observe what your toddler does with them! Scarfs are also a versatile material to play with. They can be turned into a costume for role play, a roof to a tent or even Rapunzel’s long hair!
4. Observe, not assess, your child
Open-ended play doesn’t necessarily imply that you need to spend long hours playing alongside your child. You can be pottering around home while being a keen observer of what your kid is doing. In fact, not interrupting children during playtime is idea. We don’t want to disrupt their thought processes or influence their decision-making skills while they build and create.
Sometimes, with the best of intentions, parents might be tempted to ‘test’ their children and ask them questions to check their understanding and knowledge of things. But, does that serve our children or us more?
Instead, we can share our observations with our children after they are done. Ask them to share their moments of frustration and happiness. “I saw you had trouble building that tower just now. How did you solve the problem?” or “I’m proud of what you have created. Would you care to share more with me?”
If your child is on the brink of a meltdown during play, you can of course jump in with motivating guidance.
5. Value the process, not the product
The process of play is equally, if not more important than the outcome. The tower your child was building might not look like the version you had in your head, but that’s completely fine.
To elevate the play experience, have a chat with your child. “How did you come up with that idea? What inspired you to make that? Would you appreciate me helping you next time? How differently would you build it next time?”
6. No space, no problem!
Even with limited space, which is common in many homes in Singapore, it is possible to encourage our children to have open-ended play with some intentional planning. For instance, set aside a dedicated play area for your child if you wish for some boundaries. You can use a mat to mark the perimeter.
Another way is to practice toy rotation. Choose the toys that will be in sight for that week or month, and stow the rest away. With limited toy shelves or storage spaces, this can be a sustainable system to consider and adapt!
7. Embrace mess
Why is it that some parents can tolerate baby-led weaning, which leads to food splatters everywhere? Because they are convinced of the benefits that it brings to the child for feeding. Similarly, if you believe in the benefits of open-ended play, then the mess will not feel like such an eye sore.
A perspective shift will be helpful – if there is mess, it’s proof of your child’s learning process. One way to cope with it is to set clear and achievable expectations with your child. For example, you and your child can have a ‘reset’ once a day before bed. This means that your child knows that they will have to clean up their mess right before bed every day.
Source: womensweekly.com.sg. Photos courtesy Getty.