World Play Day: boundless play with schleich® figurines for a better future

Fairies are playing in the mud, sharks and cows are the best of friends, horses can talk: in children‘s imaginative play, anything is possible. Every year on 28 May, World Play Day celebrates this boundless creativity. The awareness day highlights unstructured play as a natural and basic need of all children. This means: playing without boundaries and rules, guided only by a child‘s own imagination and its endless possibilities. The toy manufacturer Schleich has made it its mission to support this important form of play. Giving children time for unstructured play helps their development. Unstructured play strengthens skills such as problem-solving, creativity, resilience and self-confidence. Schleich firmly believes that joy in the present creates a better future, making time spent playing doubly valuable. Its realistic animals and play figurines inspire ideas and stories fuelled by creativity and imagination – stories in which anything can happen, free from judgment.

The playroom is abuzz once again: today, the Tyrannosaurus Rex and the Haflinger Mare are jointly attempting an obstacle course consisting of building blocks, pens and books. The delicate Fairy is trying to teach her best friend, the Lion, to fly, while the Orca and the fluffy Llama are sharing some hot chocolate in the doll‘s house. A glimpse into children’s imagination shows that unstructured play is completely unburdened by limits and rules. There are no firm structure, no right and wrong, no goals. It is play for its own sage, no matter how the story end.

“As well as helping children understand the world as it is, the authentic schleich® figurines inspire countless stories. Children use them to try out new things and explore the world with their imagination. When they play with our figurines, they are immediately swept away into their own private universe. This free, unstructured form of play equips children with important life skills”, explains Dirk Engehausen, CEO of Schleich GmbH.

Unstructured play – the foundation for many important skills
Researchers and education professionals agree: unstructured play is immensely important for children‘s physical, cognitive and emotional development. It fosters their creativity and imagination. By encouraging creative thinking and ideas, it teaches children to approach problems in new ways to find solutions. These abilities play an important role in later life, and many researchers call them a key for success. Creative and flexible thinking also helps children deal with day-to-day pressures more effectively, which boosts their well-being. Their self-confidence benefits, too: when children come up with creative solutions, they begin to believe in themselves and their ideas.

Unstructured play in daily life
Nowadays, many children are on a tight schedule of activities that leaves them with little free time: they head straight from school to their piano lessons, straight from nursery to their gymnastics class. Dirk Engehausen: “Unfortunately, children have less and less time. In the mid-1970s, every child had almost four times as much free time to play as today." These back-to-back pastimes and the notion that children must be kept busy at all times often cause them stress and pressure. It is a good idea to give children space for free, unstructured play that fosters their creativity every day.

Suitable toys for unstructured play
Generally speaking, unstructured play does not require toys at all. From cardboard boxes to natural materials, anything can be used. Some toys, however, are better suited than others. Toys for unstructured play do not come with instructions. They can be used anywhere in a wide range of ways, offering great scope for creative ideas. This multifunctionality is found in all figurines of the schleich® brand: they inspire endless imaginative stories wherever your children take them, be it their own room, the family car or a holiday destination.

Do you think the Lion is going to be a good flier? Does the Orca enjoy his hot chocolate? We won‘t find out today, but one thing is certain: anything is possible in the playroom.