Growing With Their Imagination

Children's play is always changing.

What begins as simply placing a favourite animal on a play mat can gradually become a whole world filled with stories, adventures and wonderfully imaginative ideas.

That's one of the things I love about open-ended play.

There isn't a particular way to use a Play Mat Kingdom play mat or an age when a child suddenly outgrows it. Younger children might enjoy exploring the colours, textures and simple features, moving their favourite toys around and beginning to create little scenes.

As they grow, their play grows too.

Animals develop names and personalities. Dinosaurs embark on adventures. A simple piece of fabric becomes a river, a cave or a secret hiding place. Stories become longer, ideas become bigger and children begin creating worlds entirely of their own.

The play mat hasn't changed.

Their imagination has.

And because there's no single story to follow, the same play mat can be rediscovered again and again – with different toys, different interests and completely different adventures.

Sometimes the simplest resources really do have the longest stories to tell.

Until next time...

We'll explore how changing just a few simple play pieces can transform a familiar play mat into a completely new adventure.