10 Non-Toys You Can Use to Encourage Active Play

If, like me, you’ve been to the playground a million times with your kids, and can’t bear the thought of them going up and down the same slide one more time, don’t give up so fast on playtime. Some of the best things to get kids playing actively and creatively don’t come in bright shiny plastic, and can be found at home or on the way to the recycling bin. When it comes to kids, the weirder the better.

It is amazing how effective “found” objects can be at getting kids moving. I recently read about a study in the UK that gave a group of over 100 primary school students access to everyday objects in the schoolyard—things like milk crates, buckets, pipes, exercise mats and hay bales. Their activity levels were compared to another group of kids at a nearby school who were sent out to play in the schoolyard that was equipped with a fancy play structure. Who do you think was the more active group?

The kids with the basic objects were less likely to sit around in the playground, and were more likely to play more imaginatively and vigorously than their peers with the slide and monkey bars. The bottom line? When kids can play creatively, they tend to move more.

Here’s a list of 10 things that are easy to find and fun for kids to play with:

1. Empty plastic storage bins (no lids)
The bigger the better. Kids can climb inside, on top, or fill them with water. Makes a good turtle shell.

2. Buckets 
Great for helmets, water fights or drum kits.

3. Big, empty cardboard boxes 
Possibly the best thing a kid can play with, ever. The uses are infinite.

4. Chairs
Kids can turn them on their sides to build structures, use them as the base of forts or be incorporated into a game.

5. The hose  
Turn it on, and stand back.

6. Blankets
Perfect to drape over benches, chairs or shrubs to make a fort.

7. Brooms
Jousting, riding, limbo-ing. Many other uses.

8. Stuff for Recycling 
Before you kick it to the curb, let your kids get their hands on defunct electronics, empty containers and other intriguing items.

9. Scrap lumber 
DIY projects often mean there are wood blocks, boards or the occasional PVC tube to be found. All are coveted play items.

10. Old tires 
Roll them, stack them, flip them.

Kids will inevitably find hundreds of uses for an object that we adults might only see as a chair. Parents—you can use your own best judgment on what is age and stage appropriate. If we can help give kids access to weird and wonderful stuff, we can step back and let the play begin.