What are open-ended play toys? They are toys with no rules to follow and have no specified finished project at the end! They encourage children to be creative, imaginative, and engaged for longer periods of time!
We love to have open-ended toys in our house, and only a few of them are on hand at a time. What’s great is that you can often find these types of toys very cheap second-hand, and they can be played with for years and years.
I’ve included some examples of each product on Amazon if you can’t find them locally. And before you start to bring in more toys to your home, read this article first: The 6 Best Alternatives To Buying Kid’s Toys And Avoiding More Junk
While board games and puzzles are considered “close-ended” toys, I believe they also have extreme value in our home to teach problem-solving skills to our children. However, all other close-ended toys are not purchased for our home.
Let’s check them out…
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This could be wooden blocks, mega blocks, Lego Duplo blocks, or smaller more intricate blocks. As your child grows, you go from the larger blocks to the small blocks to encourage their fine motor skills.
Blocks open your child’s imagination to build just about anything! We found a huge tub of blocks at Goodwill for less than $5 and it has been a favorite toy since. Plus, my daughter uses them to learn her colors too.
Check these ones out on Amazon:
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My husband grew up playing with Lincoln Logs and knew he wanted us to have some in our house. It was amazing when we stumbled upon a huge container of them for just a few dollars on Facebook Marketplace.
Your children can build houses, villages, and barns with them. They can also play with little people and animals to create their own imaginative play! It is a favorite of our open-ended play toys.
Check these out on Amazon here:
We have two dolls so far in our house – a cute baby doll and an older-looking vintage doll with hair and clothing. They each get played with every day by our daughters.
They love copying me as a mom by changing their own baby’s diaper, feeding her, taking her for walks, and more. You can slowly add more accessories on birthdays or Christmas over time to keep it exciting.
Check these out on Amazon:
Related Post: The 6 Best Alternatives to Buying Kids Toys And Avoiding More Junk
Growing up with three sisters, we basically played with our dress-up clothes every day! Our dress-up bin, as we called it, had our mom’s old bridesmaid dresses (total 80s!), random gloves, crowns, shawls, scarves, and so much more.
Dressing up each day in something new was so fun for us and really allowed us to be creative in our play. I’ve slowly collected various items for our dress-up bin for our children.
So far, we have random items in it that we don’t use as parents anymore or that we have found cheap at the thrift store. This is something you can grow over the years, and even have different themes.
Check out these open-ended play toys examples on Amazon:
Having play food for our children is so fun for them because they watch us prepare food all day long. They get to do what we are doing with their own little kid spin to it!
We don’t have a full-on play kitchen yet, so don’t feel like you have to have one. They can be expensive if you purchase new ones. Start with play food and dishes, and your children will create their own kitchen!
Here are some on Amazon:
Having mini replicas of our own farm animals and other animals from all over the world creates wonderful playtime for our children. They can use the animals to act out stories, learn animal sounds and facts, and play with lots of other open-ended toys on this list!
Also, small people figurines are so fun to play with because they help children come up with their own creative stories and situations. They can also be played in a huge range of ways.
Here are some examples on Amazon:
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Speaking of people figurines, you can also get other doll or plastic figures that work with specific doll houses. Playing with Polly Pockets was one of my favorites growing up!
A doll house isn’t always necessary, but it could be a great option for a child who has lots of fun playing with people! We used scraps of fabric on the ground to create our own Polly Pocket houses when I was younger.
If you have a boy, you may want to invest in a tool cart instead! Give them fun tools to play with and pretend they are building things like Daddy!
Check these ones out on Amazon:
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You can make your own playdough at home or you can invest in some from the store! You can buy lots of fun play dough accessories. Modeling clay or kinetic sand are similar options as well.
Children love these open-ended play toys that are manipulatives because they encourage them to make whatever is on their minds with no restrictions!
Check these out on Amazon here:
I have a toddler who is completely obsessed with stickers! She also loves to color and create random crafts throughout the day.
Giving our children creative supplies is all we have to do – then we can just let them use them however they like and run with it! What supplies you give your children will be dependent on their age and maturity level, so as they grow, keep providing them with new supplies that are appropriate.
Check these out on Amazon here:
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Children love having their own hideaways. They want privacy to play at times or just feel like they are on an exciting adventure. Purchasing items that can be used to create forts will keep your child’s imagination growing!
This could be as simple as just using your extra household items like pillows, blankets, and cardboard boxes! You don’t have to spend a lot of money on children to give them amazing toys!
Check these ones out on Amazon here:
Outdoor toys may seem like obvious open-ended play toys, but I couldn’t leave them off the list!
Bikes, balls, and trampolines are great toys for children to love the outdoors! Think about other outdoor activities your child has easy access to and would love to play with more. This could be a fishing pole, frisbee, basketball hoop, chalk, etc.
It could also be larger purchases like a sandbox, playset, climbing tower, rock climbing, and swimming pool.
Check these out on Amazon here:
Which of these open-ended play toys do you own? Which will you be purchasing next? Let me know in the comments below!
Kelsey at GoodPointGrandma
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