Heuristic play and how it benefits children

Have you noticed how often children prefer pots and pans, coasters, TV remotes, wine glasses and phones rather than all the beautiful toys and books you curate for them. Playing with everyday objects is called 'heuristic play' and is known to have many benefits.

What is 'heuristic play'?

The term 'heuristic play' was coined by English educationalist Elinor Goldschmied to cover the exploration of everyday objects by children. The word heuristic means to discover or to gain an understanding of something and is derived from the Greek word ‘eurisko'. Goldschmied covered this concept in more detail in the book People Under Three: Young Children in Daycare, which she co-authored.

Heuristic play uses commonplace household objects and allows for the child's curiosity and creativity to guide the play. It is open-ended and allows for the objects to be used and explored in any way chosen by the child.

Who is it for?

Heuristic play is relevant for children within a wide age range. At each age or developmental stage the child will engage with the items differently. Babies and toddlers like to explore the world around them through all their senses - they turn the object around and look at it intently, they poke and pull, smell and even taste. As they learn to vocalise they will use the objects for make-believe play, story-telling and role-playing. As they grow older and are able to play cooperatively, there could be sharing, negotiations and conflict between playmates.

Benefits of heuristic play

Heuristic play supports children to :

• explore in a safe and secure environment

• be guided by their natural curiosity and explore independently

• make choices (boosting confidence)

• engage all their senses to discover how the world around them and objects in it work

• develop focus and engagement as they explore the objects

• promote their natural creativity and imagination

• develop motor skills

• develop early mathematical conceptual thinking (shapes, sizes, patterns etc)

• develop critical thinking and problem solving (e.g. succeeding in stacking objects after several attempts)

• understand the concept of cause and effect as they work with the different objects.

(Reference: Harris, A., 2006)

In this follow-up post we look at how you can facilitate heuristic play for your child.

Looking for ideas on how to create heuristic play baskets? Read our post on Treasure Baskets.