Low stress, high impact play ideas that are gentle on the environment

It's very common for parents and extended families to feel like children need high quality toys and exciting things to facilitate their play. Here at Melbourne Community Toy Library, we believe that almost all toys have value and can be played with in different ways to promote imagination and creativity. Our toy library members benefit from being able to borrow toys for short periods of time, being able to try new things, and having opportunities to explore what is out there in the world of toys. However, not all toys need to be fancy, and every day objects can promote play and creativity just as well (if not better than) some conventional toys. For children's week this year, we've put together 7 play ideas that encourage kids to think, connect with nature, and use their imagination to play with regular objects they would find at home. We hope you enjoy them!

To read more about the importance of play based learning, we've found some great information here.

For more tips on how to encourage open-ended play at home see here.

Some more simple nature play ideas can be found here.