Inspiring Creative Play

A mother's nightmare! A child’s delight!

Toys with a gazillion little pieces are often not top of the list for parents! Who has time to keep it all organized? Or to be constantly on guard to keep those pieces out of the mouths of the littlest members of the family? And boy is it annoying when you step on one buried in the carpet!

But kids are so often drawn to them. So before you slam the door shut on all toys with more than two parts, ask yourself what is it is that kids love about these toys?

You might also ask yourself why preschools routinely provide kids with an amazing array of exactly these kinds of toys. Buckets of blocks, building sets, small cars, animals and people, recycled materials for arts and crafts—buttons and more messy stuff than any parent in their right mind wants to cope with.

What schools know, that we parents often forget, is that when kids play with toys that have lots of ‘loose parts’ something quite wonderful happens—creative thinking!

Toys with lots of parts provide more possibilities for open-ended play than single purpose toys. Left to their own devices, kids will move, carry, combine, design and redesign, take apart and put back together - using every ounce of creativity they have. They will plan, invent, make decisions, and figure out how to do things. In short: all the basics of creative thinking.

To encourage our kids in this direction at home, we might have to raise our tolerance level for mess and clutter just a bit. Cleaning up can definitely be more challenging. But take heart. Most kids are great at putting things away at school and with a bit of thought and effort you can teach them to do the same at home.

The next time you drop your child off at preschool, take a quick look at the way things are organized. You  will probably see plenty of buckets and bins, all within easy reach of the kids, each holding a different category of pieces. The secret, I think, is having an easily identified place for everything. A few rules – like put one bin back before you take another out – won’t hurt either. You might even try a clean up song. It works like a charm in school!

Want to loosen up your kids creative spirit? Get started with 'loose parts' toys from like Mighty Mind, Plan Toys Creative Blocks and Straws & Connectors.

What is your favourite toy for inspiring creative play?

Judi Meade is the owner of Art-enfant, a member of Neighbourhood Toy Stores of Canada (NETS), and LearningToys.ca. Her stores are a destination for families looking for unique and fun playthings that sneak a little learning in on unsuspecting kids.