We believe offering open-ended play opportunities is critical to the natural development of a resourceful and thriving creative mind. Inquisitive modern carers, mindful of their parenting ethos and deliberate in their educational, ethical and environmental choices, are increasingly researching ways to support their children's creativity and critical thinking with resources at the child's service for them to build upon.

What are open-ended toys?

Put simply, open-ended and wooden toys are passive toys

Unlike their 'active' counterparts, passive toys do not do the entertaining, they are brought to life by the child and go as far as imagination will take them. They do require a creative effort, critical and conceptual thinking, which is why initially they may not look like what your child will fall in love at first sight, but the reward is only as great as the input it takes to create!

Typically, if you see something and wonder what the heck is your child to do with this, you're likely on the right path! This is because the use of these resources is so open and not prescriptive that it's really not obvious what can be done with them or what they were meant for. A wooden rainbow, a playsilk, a hundred board... Often a deceptively simple masterpiece of engineering, cleverly put together from quality, appropriate materials by talented craftmen.

And it's important to note here these open play resources don't have to be handmade, expensive or even bought at all - Mother Nature for instance provides plenty of fantastic open play resources for free - soil, leaves, sticks, the wind... Reusing material such as brown paper and cardboard from a delivery is also a great opportunity to get creative at little to no cost!

Why does open-ended play matter?

Nurturing our innate child's drive

Active or 'entertaining' toys teach the kids to find out what the thing can do, rather than empower them to discover and expand what they can create with the thing. In doing so, kids slowly learn that their play depends on and is constrained by their resources, and they let their imagination dwindle overtime - until they become *gasp*... adults! (Recommending reading Le Petit Prince here ;) ). After all, a toy dog that can sit, bark and roll over can only do so much.

Have you seen the spark in a baby's eye as they set off to figure out the world? The passion, dedication and perseverance as they repeat an action endlessly until they master it? That drive, is what we, at Endless Play Collective, have vowed to protect at all costs, for all children of all ages, from craddle to grave. We believe play resources should cleverly support this inquisitive drive and never get in the way or try to direct it, because it's through their experiments that little ones can figure out the real world - play is serious business.

Cost per play

Even though 'regular toys' may sometimes look dirty cheap, there is so little use your child will get out of them - because it only has that much capability, the child will outgrow it in a blink, and they are usually not build to last - that the 'cost-per-play' is actually incredibly high. I won't even get into the environmental and ethical cost here.

High quality open-ended and wooden toys may be considered an initial investment, but the cost per play actually ends up being much lower. They are made from quality materials, often handmade, and built to be passed down from generations to generations but generally also hold their resale value pretty well. As imagination will stretch them into new play ideas, one toy will replace twenty. Finally, they can often be used from a very early age (although we always recommend to supervise play) and will grow with the child for years - or forever.

Play for everyone

Open-ended play may be a fantastic way to reconnect with your inner child and spend more time playing as a family. Although usually bought for babies, toddlers or young children - you'll soon find out quickly they will entertain kids, mums, dads and grandparents alike (and pets, oh boy do our cats love our baby's toys!)! They are also little known fantastic resources for children with special needs and the elderly!