Exploration, Play & Learning

Explorations of new objects first focus on physical characteristics, using behaviors like mouthing, holding, visual inspection, hitting, shaking, banging, pulling, tearing, rubbing, scratching, squeezing, sliding, pushing, dropping, and throwing.

Once the physical features become familiar, exploration shifts to what an object can do. Does it float in the tub? Does it fit inside another object? Does it make sounds when it's shaken? And so on.

When an object’s capabilities are understood, explorations shift again, to: what can I do with it? Can I use it to move water from one place to another? Can I build a tower with the parts, or make rhythmic sounds banging two parts together?

These three levels of exploration: physical characteristics, what an object can do, and finally, what I can do with it, build on each other. At each level, children work with a seriousness and persistence that is surprising to most observers. Exploration of objects accounts for a surprising 80% of a child’s waking time from 12 to 36 months!

Novelty attracts attention, and propels exploration. Objects that change as they are used encourage prolonged engagement and many opportunities for learning. This can be seen in RED RINGS, a flexible, multi-component toy that responds to even small movements with big changes in appearance.

Between 6 and 9 months, the two hands can hold different objects at the same time. Objects can now be brought together to touch and make sounds.

With the ability to handle several objects at one time, fitting relationships move to center stage. One of the easiest is simple “inside/outside” fits. BALLS IN A BOWL was designed to help babies explore these relationships. The three smaller balls are easily dropped through the mouth of the larger ball, and then removed, at first by lifting them out one-by-one, and later by dumping them out all at once.

FITTING FORMS was designed to be more challenging than BALLS IN A BOWL. The fits are more demanding, and differences in shape are now part of the story.

Good toys should have lots of opportunities for learning, with varying levels of challenge. For example, BALLS IN A BOWL provides opportunities to explore how the spinners in each ball are affected by arm, wrist, and hand movements, but the balls can also be used for rolling and bowling. Similarly, FITTING FORMS can be used for fantasy play and storytelling in addition to exploring how the parts fit together.

Let's take a closer look at how toys can keep up with new ways of using them as interests and abilities grow. We'll outline this for three toys: VISUAL DISPLAY, BALLS IN A BOWL, AND FITTING FORMS.