PDA

View Full Version : Your best open ended resources



Pixie dust
07-07-2011, 01:11 PM
Hi everyone
I am looking at getting a few extra resources and would love to know what is your most loved open ended resource. The one the children get the most from.



Hope that makes sense and you know what I mean.

blue bear
07-07-2011, 01:15 PM
Material and pegs, makes dens, dressing up outfits, bowlers, home corner, well the list goes on! Mine are full of imagination at the moment.

The Juggler
07-07-2011, 01:15 PM
sandpit (outdoor)
homecorner (dollies, kitchen, buggies, toolkit, tills and phones/bags etc)
free access to paper, pens, glue chalks

Penny1959
07-07-2011, 01:51 PM
Without a doubt the heuristic play - it is out today and children have been playing with it all day - supervised from a distance as they self motivate and generate new ideas every time they use resources.

I have rather a lot - mostly recycled / from scrap store and I put out different combinations to provide more opportunities.

So today - mindees - twins aged 17m, one 15m, one age 2. 6 and one 4.5

Out:- large mirror as back drop - tins, baskets, boxes, wooden spoons, metal spoons, saucepans, collections of bottle tops, curtain rings, plastic corks, bracelets, links,

Play - lots of filling and emptying of contains, filling baskets and pretending to go shopping (added toddler till at this point) then scaning of items talk about lots, too much, full, empty, hundreds pounds, paying,.
Also mixing things in the saucepans, making lines of things, sorting by colour, shape like / dislike and oh so much more.

Penny :)

mushpea
07-07-2011, 04:40 PM
definatly wooden building blocks for ages from 1 to 12yrs they all love playing with them,, we also have some large building blocks in the garden made from some wood that dosent splinter which my OH made which they love.
got some multi link today and they played with that for ages and also popoids,, my lot love construction type toys.

Andrea08
07-07-2011, 04:47 PM
Small world and adding to it like pineapple tops as trees for the diansour tray,

sandy64
07-07-2011, 04:51 PM
fabric different sizes. and headscarfs. lo use for dressing up wrapping things in dancing with the list is endless. dolls buggies. play food. happyland.
sandpit. box of hats and play shoes,bags and play phones:)

The Juggler
07-07-2011, 09:09 PM
oh and free access to dress up and musical instrument. my two under 3's like to be fairy dressed drummers at the moment :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

Pixie dust
07-07-2011, 09:11 PM
Thanks for some fab ideas that I can use. :thumbsup:

miss mopple
07-07-2011, 09:16 PM
Glass pebbles! They use them as pennies, for sorting, as food and all sorts of other things :thumbsup:

Fabric is also widely used here

Mouse
07-07-2011, 09:19 PM
All of my mindees love the treasure basket. Sometimes they'll get it out & play with everything in it. Other times they just take out the bits they want for whatever they're playing at the time. They are very resourceful & imaginitive and turn thr bits into whatever they want them to be. For example, I have wooden strut that fell off a stool (is that what's it called? the cross bar bit between the legs on a stool). It gets used as a drum stick, a magic wand, a stirrer for mixing imaginery cooking etc

love381
08-07-2011, 09:15 AM
At the minute, ours is Lego Duplo. I will admit to having 5 80L toy boxes full of the stuff and still could do with one or two more toy boxes for it!!!

The children love it, constantly ask for it and make EVERYTHING and anything out of it!!

x

zippy
08-07-2011, 05:32 PM
http://www.tts-group.co.uk/shops/tts/Range.aspx?search=tuff%20spot

have you seen these, you can do anything with them, it is called active world, be just have a compost tray in garden didn't really need one as big as these but the principle is the same, we put fake snow in we have done construction scenes, made mountins out of paper mache and put cut grass and farm animals in, i think the mats are a bit pricy but am looking for cheaper alternatives

funemnx
08-07-2011, 05:45 PM
My lot use the Duplo a lot too, we have a really big box of it with animals and people in there too (not real ones!) :laughing:

francinejayne
08-07-2011, 05:49 PM
home made play dough! I have a tub of it on the go all the time - it lasts us about a month before it gets too hard and I make a fresh batch. different colours, different smells, and different bits added to it each time (glitter, coffee grounds, sequins etc) to make it a bit different from the last time.
print off play dough mats from the internet for free, laminate them, then i bought a huge tub of play dough tools from Asda for about £3.

my children play with this almost every day, and it's great as a fall back!

love381
08-07-2011, 06:06 PM
We've had a great time with Duplo this afternoon. Two of the older ones have built a huge square that was big enough to sit in!! They had it as a castle (only one fitted in at a time, but it was amazing!!!) I've never seen anything like it!! x

Ali56
08-07-2011, 10:29 PM
At the minute, ours is Lego Duplo. I will admit to having 5 80L toy boxes full of the stuff and still could do with one or two more toy boxes for it!!!

The children love it, constantly ask for it and make EVERYTHING and anything out of it!!

x

And I thought I had alot!!! you have 2 boxes more than me and hubby says enough is enough:laughing: :laughing:
Along with the duplo my little lovelys love to have the play kitchen, food, till, little table and chairs, shopping baskets and anything and everything that can be 'bought' (anything thats not pinned down or to heavy to lift!!) along with this go the babies and the doctor bag! Our doctor bag has all the usual plastic stuff along with a leg splint, a thomas splint and lots of tubigrip and other stuff(all safe,of course) as DD has JIA and has outgrown these ones! Oh the fun of it all keeps them entertained for, literally, hours! Throw in a few blankets and a beach windbreak for when they're outside and they are sorted!!:D

moljak
09-07-2011, 09:59 PM
I have quite a few bear factory animals bought from ebay and bootsales.The children play with them daily, dressing them, taking them for walks, playing vets, zoos, having picnics, riding in wheel barrows.The boys love them as they are "cool" and NOT! dolls.

Cammie Doodle
10-07-2011, 09:12 AM
We were asked this question the other evening on a course and do you know when I thought about it I answered by saying "my dining table and chairs"i think everyone thought I was mad, but honestly it goes from being a den, to kennels, bunk beds (1child on the floor and 1 on the chair), stables etc etc . It was a cave the other day with 2 lions in there lol The 2 children who were doing this are 5yrs old and have been with us from about 9mths old and it never fails to amaze me how often they use the space under the table. Bearing in mind we have Wendy Houses ,Tents, Dark Dens etc, it goes to show no amount of expensive equipment can make up for a child imagination ;) Something I need to remind myself of OFTEN

Pixie dust
10-07-2011, 10:54 AM
Thanks again for all your replies. You have given me some great ideas to add to my resources it is hard when you have a very limited budget. :thumbsup:

miffy
10-07-2011, 06:11 PM
Hats, bags, capes and lengths of material for dressing up in (add pegs, string etc for den-making)

Containers of all sizes and spoons, scoops, funnels, bottles and anything else you can think of for picking things up and filling containers with.

Home made playdough in lots of different colours so they can mix it together to make new colours/patterns.

Miffy xx