The toy market is incredibly vast nowadays and there are more toys available than ever before. Whether you’re buying a toy for your little one’s birthday or you’re looking for a toy to gift to someone else, you will be spoilt for choice and understandably, it can be difficult to narrow down your options and decide which is the best toy to purchase. 

Many don’t realise that the vast majority of toys on the market will fall into one of two categories; open-ended toys and closed-ended toys. Generally speaking, when purchasing toys, it is best to opt for open-ended toys and these are very popular amongst parents, children and developmental specialists alike. If you’ve never heard of open-ended toys before and you’re wondering why they are so popular, below we have explored their biggest benefits. 

What are open-ended toys?

Simply put, an open-ended toy is a toy that can be played with in a huge variety of ways and instead of the toy dictating how a child can play, open-ended toys leave lots of room for imagination and creativity. Unlike close-ended toys that have one main purpose and a clear ending point, like a puzzle or a shape sorter, for example, open-ended toys can be played with for hours on end and they will never get boring. 

Why should you purchase open-ended toys?

There are a number of benefits to purchasing open-ended toys rather than close-ended toys and they can be brilliant for children of all ages. As you may expect, the biggest benefit of this type of toy is that it encourages creativity and little ones can come up with their own ways to play with these toys. You can give different children the same open-ended toys and they will all find different ways to use them, based on things like their interests, abilities and imagination. 

It’s worth noting that playing with open-ended toys also helps babies, toddlers and children with everything from motor skills development to language development too. Also, uniquely, open-ended toys have ‘no rules’ and they can simply be enjoyed without children having to worry about getting things wrong. Playing with open-ended toys can be really freeing and, for this reason, they are toys that children will come back to time and time again. 

Which open-ended toys are best to purchase?

Amongst the range of different open-ended toys that are available to purchase, wooden toys tend to be the most popular. Almost all wooden toys are open-ended and they can be enjoyed throughout different stages of your little one’s development. Thankfully, wooden toys are designed to be durable and long-lasting too, so they are a brilliant investment to make and one that you know will be cost-effective in the long run.

Some of the best open-ended wooden baby toys and toddler toys include;  

Building blocks 

This is one of the most simple open-ended toys, yet building blocks provide hours of fun to children and these blocks can be used in so many different ways. Traffic building blocks, farm building blocks or fairytale building blocks are a brilliant choice of toy. 

Stacking animals 

Lots of children love animals and they will enjoy bringing them to life whilst they’re playing. Something like a set of Africa stacking animals or forest stacking animals are great open-ended toys and they can be used in various imaginative scenarios.

Foldaway places 

Being able to play with multiple different characters and animals at once is something that lots of children like doing and a foldaway zoo, foldaway unicorn castle or foldaway fire station is ideal for imaginative play. This open-ended toy is really convenient to pack away as well. 

Vehicle sets 

Almost all children will have played with different miniature vehicles over the years and they are the perfect open-ended toy. A London vehicle set or emergency vehicle set is a great choice when you’re wanting to purchase wooden toys. 

Purchasing open-ended toys for your little one 

All in all, it is easy to see why so many people choose to purchase open-ended toys and they are undeniably a brilliant choice, no matter what your reasons may be for buying a toy. Should you be interested in purchasing open-ended toys for your little one and more specifically, wooden open-ended toys, be sure to visit the My Little Goody Box online store today. 

We have a huge selection of wooden baby toys that can be played with by children of various ages and you can trust that your little one will love playing with them for many years to come. You can purchase from us in confidence knowing that we handpick all of the items on our website and they are of the highest quality. If you’re looking for some unique play ideas to try with the open-ended toys you purchase, this is something we can help with too and you can sign up for our newsletter to learn more.