Imagine a world full of possibilities; one where a cardboard box becomes a spaceship, castle or train and you can create a new land with monsters, goblins and fairies just by opening up the toy cupboard. How magical! 

Imaginative play isn’t just fun, it helps children make sense of the world, their emotions and relationships. It also helps their language, creativity and problem solving skills. Read more about the benefits of Role Play.

The key thing to remember when choosing toys to build up a collection is that it’s important for toys to be ‘open-ended’. This means that they can be used for lots of different things; whatever suits your child at that time, and it means the toys’ potential grows with your child.

Here are a few categories of toys to kit out any playroom or corner, ideal to stimulate kids’ imaginations:

Small World

Manipulating tiny figures helps children feel in control. If the figures aren’t defined, they can be any gender, any character, old or young, which opens up story making possibilities. Ostheimer carved wooden figures are tactile and an ideal size to hold for children. Also, tiny Grapat sticks, wizards and nins are a brilliant addition to any small world box as they have so many uses. They can also help with sorting and colour coding – all part of the fun!

Dressing Up

Raid your grandmother’s wardrobe or the local charity shop, then find a big basket and fill with a range of clothes, shoes, hats and accessories. Watch your child transform themselves as they try things on. Add a selection of play scarves, crowns and fairy wands and you set the stage for this year’s big family production.

Dens & Cosy Spaces

Not only are play scarves and silks the heroes of the dressing up basket for their versatility, they can also create a den by being hung up in a corner of the room or under a tree. Dens give kids their own space for reading, thinking and playing. They are also an ideal place to snuggle down with you to chat or share a book.

Block Play

Constructing cities, towers, villages and vehicles out of blocks helps dexterity as well as imaginations. Invest in a set of wooden blocks (coloured and natural) and add different sizes and types of blocks, such as empty food packets and boxes. Remember to create a space for block play where siblings can’t easily knock down carefully constructed creations. Add small world figures for a deeper dimension to the play possibilities.

76 percent of parents in the UK stated their kids engage in art club activities regularly outside of school. Active participation of kids in arts and crafts projects — colouring with crayons, designing miniature statues using clay, or folding papers creatively to make origami shapes — can be supportive to the development of young children. The benefits of kids’ engagement in art and craft projects are enormous, ranging from health, physical, to social benefits. In this write-up, we will focus on the health benefits of these projects for children. 

Visual Learning and Memory Development

The health benefits of arts and crafts aren’t just limited to enhancing the motor and language skills of a child, but also improving their awareness of various patterns and figures. Tasks like sculpting or jewelry-making require visualizing as well as memorizing complex designs.

An Outlet for Stress

Most parents and teachers don’t always consider the fact that kids can experience stress too, just like adults do. The reason for this oversight is simple: Unlike adults, young children do not have any family they support. But kids can sometimes find school work or certain social situations overwhelming. This could result in unhealthy conditions such as sleep deprivation, or mood swings.

Thus, engaging in tasks that serve as an outlet for stress can be helpful.  The import of arts and crafts in this regard is noteworthy. Arts and crafts projects can serve as a means of distraction for toddlers, giving them a chance to release pent-up emotions.

Furthermore, arts also help in reducing cortisol, the stress hormone, in the body. The lower the cortisol levels in one’s body, the lower the stress one experiences.

Boosts Self Esteem

Kids’ engagement in arts and crafts projects instills a sense of pride, of achievement in them, which in turn can boost their self-esteem. Having good self-esteem is important for balanced mental health. Poor self-esteem can hurt the mental and even physical health of an individual.

For instance, if one’s mental health is poor, it can lead to a lack of self-care or poor eating habits. This underscores the import of creating arts and crafts in boosting self-esteem, and consequently, mental and physical health. 

In conclusion, arts and crafts offer many health benefits to young children including the development of motor and coordination skills, boosting self-esteem, serving as a stress outlet, and improving visual learning practices, as well as memory and language skills.

Personalizing crafting projects is also crucial as it offers kids a channel to express themselves, to create something unique on their own, and to have fun creatively. This practice will help kids develop a sense of self-worth, it’ll make them feel good knowing that they are able to do stuff that can be credited to them. As parents, you can personalize arts and crafts projects by adding a tag or a label with your child’s name on it.

About the author: Anna Carter Short is a freelance writer and a seamstress of more than 5 years. Annabelle is a mother and she loves making crafts with her two children, Leo (age 10) and Michelle (age 11). When not working, she’s spending time with her family or putting pen to paper for her own personal pursuits. Annabelle writes for several sewing/crafting publications and magazines.

Welcome to WordPress. This is yGather a basket of treasures, spread out a blanket under a tree and watch your baby play and explore.our first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!

Brilliant inside or out, creating a treasure basket for your baby will not only keep them occupied for ages, but it will also help them learn about the world and develop problem solving skills. Play with treasure baskets is also known as heuristic play, which is any type of natural, creative exploration of or play with objects.

Babies go through three stages of play with objects*:

5-10 months – the first thing babies do is put objects in their mouths. When they are at this stage and they can sit up, if you offer them an object, they mostly want to know: What is this object like?

10-20 months – your baby will start to move around and then they’ll explore how the object interacts with their environment. At this stage, they mostly want to know: What can I do with it? And, what else can I do with it?

20 months and older – once your child starts to understand what an object can do, then they’ll begin to use their imagination. Mostly, they want to know: What can this object become?

If they come across new objects, no matter how old they are, they may revert to the first stage of mouthing it before moving on to imaginative play. 

The basket

Any type of round basket with short sides would be good, so that the basket doesn’t tip over and baby can reach in and choose an object. You could also experiment with a sturdy cardboard box or metal tin. If your baby is struggling to get the objects out of the basket, you can lay them out randomly on a blanket or rug on the floor. Olli Ella’s Petite Bolga Basket is great for keeping objects in. Make sure you can fit around 20-30 objects in your basket. 

Treasure basket object ideas

A treasure basket contains a collection of ordinary, natural objects that appeal to all the senses and are safe to put in babies’ mouths. They should be objects you can find in nature or around your home. Include a mix of textures, smells and sounds. 

You can buy ready-made kits, such as this Grapat wooden treasure basket kit. Use a kit as a base and add other objects or make your own from scratch.