How to Create a Heuristic Play Set for Your Baby
If you’ve ever watched your baby play with a cardboard box longer than the toy inside it, you’ve already seen the magic of heuristic play.
Heuristic play is all about giving babies simple, everyday objects to explore, things that spark curiosity, invite them to use their senses, and encourage problem solving. It’s not about flashy toys with lights and sounds, but about open-ended objects that let babies discover their own ways to play.
The beauty of heuristic play is that it’s simple to set up at home. All you need is a soft basket or box and a thoughtfully chosen selection of safe, interesting items.
What to Include in a Heuristic Play Set
When putting together your set, aim for a variety of textures, shapes, sizes, and materials. Babies love to compare, shake, bang, roll, and mouth objects, so variety is key.
Here are some ideas you could include:
Natural wood toys
Like the Ohbubs Wooden Maraca and Ohbubs Wooden Egg Rattle , These are perfect toys for little hands, offering gentle sounds and smooth textures.
Fabric pieces
Pieces of muslin, silk, or soft cotton in different colours and textures.
Household items
A wooden spoon, a stainless-steel whisk, or a silicone spatula.
Safe natural materials
A large seashell, pinecones (smooth and clean).
Containers
Small baskets, tins with lids, or cardboard tubes for posting and filling.
How to Set It Up
Choose a basket or box that’s sturdy and easy for baby to reach into, but not so hard that it will hurt baby if the roll or fall onto it.
Add 10–15 items with a mix of materials, weights, and shapes.
Offer the basket to your baby in a calm, safe space and let them explore at their own pace.
Sit back and watch, resist the urge to show them how to use the objects. The joy of heuristic play is that your baby discovers their own ways to interact.
Why It Matters
Heuristic play helps babies:
- Develop fine motor skills (grasping, shaking, transferring objects).
- Explore cause and effect (what happens when I shake, bang, or drop this?).
- Build concentration and independence.
- Enjoy rich sensory experiences through touch, sound, and sight.
And because the items are simple and natural, they can grow with your child, from rattling and mouthing as a baby, to imaginative play as a toddler.
A Note on Safety
Always supervise your baby during heuristic play. Make sure every item is large enough that it can’t be swallowed, remember those canisters that film for cameras used to come in? The ones that were black with a grey lid? A good rule of thumb is that an item should not be able to fit into one of those. Avoid anything sharp or breakable. Rotate items regularly to keep things fresh and interesting.
Start with Something Simple
If you’d like to try heuristic play but don’t know where to start, the Ohbubs Wooden Maraca and Wooden Egg Rattle are beautiful first additions to your set. They’re made from FSC-certified rubber wood, designed to fit perfectly in little hands, and they bring a gentle sound that babies love.
From there, you can add in everyday household items and natural treasures to create a play basket that will keep your little one busy and learning for hours.