Bringing the Outside In: The Power of Open-Ended Toys

One thing I haven’t touched on much here on the blog is open-ended toys, and with rainy days and long winter months keeping us indoors more often, it feels like the perfect time to explore it.

At Little Squirrels, we spend the majority of our time outside. Nature provides the best materials for imaginative, meaningful play: sticks become wands or fishing poles, rocks become food, pinecones become pets. The freedom and creativity that outdoor play offers is central to who we are. So when we’re inside, it’s important that the same mindset continues. That’s where open-ended toys come in.

Open-ended materials mirror the experience of playing outside. They don’t tell children how to play, they invite them to explore, create, and invent. A block can be anything. A silk can transform a scene in seconds. Just like in nature, the possibilities are endless.

Open-Ended Toys in Action

Some of our favorite open-ended materials include:

• Blocks – Always in use, and never quite the same. One day they’re a tower, the next day a farm, and the next a bug hotel.

• Wooden Rainbow

• Sarah’s Silks – These flowing, colorful cloths become costumes, landscapes, rivers, or cozy nests.

• Loose Parts – Buttons, pinecones, rings, sticks, shells—all materials that may look ordinary, but in the hands of a child, they become tools of imagination.

While our themes rotate in and out, like our recent bug unit, not every item we introduce is open-ended. But that’s the beauty of this kind of play: themed materials usually end up folded into open-ended exploration. During the bug unit, children built bug houses with blocks, created ant hills with rainbow stackers, and used silks to make winding trails for pretend insects. Nothing is off-limits. Everything is an invitation.

We place materials intentionally, arranging them in a way that encourages curiosity. We don’t set expectations for how things should be used, we simply watch as children follow their own creative paths. Whether they build, mix, pretend, or sort, they’re engaging in deep learning that’s entirely self-led.

Messy Magic

Of course, with open-ended play often comes a bit of mess, okay, sometimes a lot of mess! Loose parts end up scattered, silks are draped over everything, and blocks seem to multiply across the floor, but that mess is a sign of rich, engaged play. It means children are deep in thought, fully immersed in their own ideas. We see the mess not as chaos, but as creativity in motion. With a little time and teamwork, it all gets sorted out, usually with a sense of pride from the kids who helped create the scene in the first place.

I’ll admit, open-ended play isn’t something I often feature on the blog. I don’t have a lot of pictures of it. not because it isn’t important, but because it doesn’t always look blog-worthy and because usually I’m immersed in the chaos of creation. The photos would rarely show a tidy scene or a perfectly arranged shelf. More often, it looks like a whirlwind of blocks, silks, and scattered bits of nature. But what might look like a mess to an adult is often a masterpiece in the eyes of a child. A carefully built world, a story in progress, a problem being solved… It’s real, meaningful play, and it deserves to be celebrated just as much as the pretty pictures.

Holding Onto What Matters

As we move through the seasons, whether we’re basking in the fresh air or bundled up inside, our commitment to child-led, imaginative play stays the same. Open-ended toys help us keep that spirit alive, no matter the weather. They remind us that learning doesn’t come from being told what to do, but from being given the time, space, and freedom to explore. And that’s exactly what we aim to give every child, every day, at Little Squirrels.

Warmly,

Ms Sarah

May the world be filled with beautiful, peaceful little children.

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