Early learning · 2026-10-19

The Toys That Aren't Toys

Why do children often prefer the cardboard box over the gift inside? Discover how open-ended "loose parts" build creative brains.

It is a wonderfully common parenting experience: you carefully choose a beautiful, intricate toy, and when the child unwraps it, they toss the gift aside and spend the entire afternoon playing with the cardboard box it came in. Or perhaps, after a crisp autumn walk, your child returns home with pockets heavy with ordinary pebbles, fallen pinecones, and random twigs.

To adult eyes, these empty boxes and "found treasures" might look like clutter. But from a developmental perspective, children are actually making incredibly smart choices.

Discovering Infinite Variables

In 1971, architect Simon Nicholson coined the "Theory of Loose Parts". He proposed that in any environment, the degree of inventiveness and creativity is directly proportional to the number of variables in it—things that can be moved, combined, taken apart, and put back together in multiple ways.

Highly structured toys—like a plastic dog that barks when you press a button—usually have only one way to be played with. They do not require the child to imagine much, because the toy does the work for them. Conversely, a stone, a stick, a piece of ribbon, or an empty cardboard box comes with no manual. Just as in a Swiss Waldkindergarten (forest kindergarten), where children spend their days outdoors in all weathers, the most treasured playthings are rarely readymade toys. They are leaves, pinecones, and mud. Because they are undefined, they can become anything.

A Magic Laboratory in the Brain

When a child picks up a block of wood and pretends it is a telephone, a boat, or food for a dinosaur, they are engaging in what developmental psychologists call "symbolic play". Classic research by Jean Piaget highlighted that the ability to use one object to represent another is a crucial milestone in a child's cognitive development. It is the foundation for understanding abstract concepts, which later translates into reading and mathematics.

With these open-ended materials, children are little scientists in their own mental laboratories. A plain cardboard box might be a pirate ship today, and tomorrow it becomes a cozy hibernation cave for a teddy bear or Sparkie. Through this process, they are not only practicing divergent thinking but also building executive function. They set a goal, plan how to use their materials, and adjust their strategies when a tower of stones inevitably tumbles.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) echoes this in their guidance on the power of play, emphasizing that the most beneficial toys for young children are often the simplest ones. Traditional, open-ended materials encourage active, creative engagement, far more than passive digital or battery-operated toys.

Playing Without the Manual

For adults, the biggest challenge with loose parts is often embracing the mess they bring to the living room. We do not need to teach a child how to play with a stick, nor do we need to prescribe a "correct" use for a cardboard box. Our role is simply to provide the space, the time, and the materials, acting as warm witnesses to their creativity.

The next time you see your child deeply engaged in sorting pebbles or hiding in a shipping box, take a moment to pause. Enjoy the magic of a toy without a manual.

Things to try this week

• Create a treasure basket: Find a sturdy basket and collect safe, everyday household items—wooden clothes pegs, clean plastic tubs, pieces of thick yarn, or small boxes. Simply leave it out and watch how your child combines them.
• Keep the delivery box: When the next large cardboard box arrives, wait a few days before recycling it. Offer your child some crayons and see what the box transforms into over the week.
• Ask a curious question: When your child runs to you with a pocketful of rocks, instead of saying, "That's just a dirty stone," try asking, "Wow, what did you find? How does it feel in your hands?"