I've heard about heuristic (sp?) play, does anyone know about it please?

[saythatagain]

For the life of me I can't even remember where I heard it being discussed, or maybe I was just ear-wigging! It sounded very interesting so first port of call for advice is, of course, mumsnet. TIA

Anyone who wants "TD" please email me on

frannyandzooey at india dot com

I will respond to all emails there, it may just take a couple of days at times when I am busy

Washing up glove sounds hilarious and scary

I have dropped some cash at the online scrap store. I don't know what half the things I have bought ARE [crazed laughter]

Ooh, just found this thread and got lost on the links while supposed to be hoovering!
Franny, may I e-mail you and ask for a copy of The Document too?
I've just got into the treasure-basket-y thing, went on a day course about heuristic play through my child-minding network, though I didn't know it was going to be about hp at the time. So I came home and put a basket together for my mindee (she was 8 months at the time) and have been amazed at how much she loves it. I have her basket which lives on the floor where she can reach it, and the spare things for it live in a organiser thing on the back of the bedroom door so I can swap them around.
I'm a bit gutted for my own kids that I didn't find out about this when they were little - they did play with things from the kitchen a lot, but not in the concentrated way a wnaky basket allows. Although I've been surprised by how much they love the basket things too - they spend more time playing with them than many other of their toys! Working on my collections of similar-ish things now. At the course I was on, the lady had a lovely chiming metal egg which made a beautiful noise, and I nearly had to steal it. Don't suppose anyone would know where to get hold of one?

X-posted, thanks for re-positng your address, I was just about to trawl back through the thread for it!

I have metal chime balls which are those sets of two relaxation balls you get in a box, from Chinese shops

they are round, not egg shaped, but very lovely

Ta, off to google them now, no Chinese shops in rural Perthshire, [sigh]

like these

I have really enjoyed reading this thread.

My DD2 is 3.5 and has special needs. She had Portage for nearly 2 years, which is a home based therapy service to help her learn skills that most children do naturally. This is done through play, and we also had some heuristic play.

She had her own treasure basket, and it was lovely to see her get so much sensory input from the contents, that she can't get from plasticky toys. She loved running a natural sponge over her face, and exploring tree bark with her fingers (at the time going out to the woods to hug a tree wasn't an option )

Thin chains make a lovely slithery noise when you let them drop, and chunky old glass-beaded necklaces chink together nicely when shaken!

Oh brilliant, Sidge, I can really picture the things you are describing

Just checked my email and there are 20 new enquiries about this since this morning

it will take me a little while to get around to you all, but I will do it

Ooh, you're a star, they even come in their own box for putting in and taking out!! Thankyou
A perennial favourite in our basket is a set of russian dolls, the kind that go inside each other.

Message withdrawn

The best things I've bought have been:
stacking cups (for littlies)
plenty of musical instruments (any age)
some decent wooden train track (2 and up)
plastic tea set and pretend food, for doing pretend cooking (2 and up0
duplo, duplo, and more duplo (duplo house, duplo farm, bob the builder duplo) you get the picture.
and loads of arts and crafts bits and pieces, although mostly that's just my stuff that I share.

THis is a fascintating thread. FrannyandZoey, its so obvious that you`re passionate about children and their experiences.

I have to admit, her in Japan, life is very sterile, and mothers love shopping- the kids have all the latest bits of plastic and thats about all they have.I see that parents dont understand that odds and ends are much better for their kids imagination and development than stuff bought at the toy shop so this movement would be really good for kids here. But on the other hand, I wonder how many parents just do this as a matter of course, compared to how many parents think that their kids should be playing with the "right" toys. Since reading this thread, Ive realised that I do do heuristic play, by putting lots of odds and ends in a shallow box for DD to play with.It stemmed from laziness to be honest (I love my mumsnet), and common sense too because DD is obviously using her imagination when she plays with these things. Maybe it was just instinct to let her do this or maybe I have been influenced by my friends or the books I read (Deborah Jackson, and my friend with 6 children who looked at me one day with my PFB and said to me:
"a carboard box and a piece of string, thats all they need. Honestly, they dont need any toys-not ANY. I wish Id known all of that when I had my first, I`d have saved myself so much money" )

As I said to Avi, on another thread, this is my absolute top recommended toy for age 0 - 5. It is ruddy superb. Unfortunately they cost over £500, but you might be lucky and get one second hand like I did. It is kind of a heuristic and imaginative nirvana.

Other than that I think that little toy people / things ("small world play"), building bricks, art stuff (ie pencils / pens and paper) and things like balls and so on, get the most use. However if I remember rightly, there was an experiment where they took ALL the children's toys away, and after a coupld of days of drifting around saying "we are bored", they used household objects and things from the street / garden to continue their imaginative play exactly the same way as before. I think this would have been how children played before we "invented" childhood and all the million things that need to be bought to make sure our children can "develop" properly

Ooh yes and tea set, I agree with that. Plus baby doll(s). Other than those ds's most played with things have been musical instruments (drum, small guitar etc) but I don't count those as toys exactly, as they are real instruments.

I must confess I am avoiding this thread because I have completely failed to answer any emails today and I am sure they are silting up in my inbox

I promise to get round to them but for today (and possibly tomorrow) I have a note from my mum

Had a lovely time in Wilkinsons buying lovely 79p dolly pegs and bathplug chains etc this morning ... ds (3.5) just found them whilst dd is asleep and is busy singing "I've got everything I need, everything I need, I, I, I have got everything I need ..." then spotting something new and gasping "ohhhh, look at this BEAUTIFUL thing"
He'll explore with joy if I go here Mrs B's beautiful scrapsite...

Thanks F&Z

(PS have started working on editing TD...)

Oh that is superb, that sounds just like the kind of song ds sings. Oh god I am almost welling up at how marvellous that is that he felt that way.

and OooOOOOooooooh, have they got bathplug chains in Wilko's? What other stuff are they with?

Have done about half emails am pausing for breath

He IS quite easily moved to song, but it was rather lovely. I did sniff slightly. He wouldn't let me near either in case I tried to nick anything.

WWhich was smart of him, as when the dcs had finished playing I started ... can't think of a time I'm spontaneously played with their things before. They were just so pleasing ... I threaded all the curtain rings nicely onto a ribbon, then sorted the stones into different colours, then , well anyway

Bathchains were with, um, DIY stuff. I think. They were possibly 34p.

Message withdrawn

Haven't read the whole thread but enjoyed reading a lot of it and going to give this a go with my kids. A thought occurred as to finding stuff too - try your local freecycle group.
Thanks for all the ideas everyone

[joy] at all the heuristic marvels

and at all your bath plugs