The joy of container play: Exploring play development and understanding of how things work

Have you heard the term ‘Container play’? I use this very often with children in my sessions as it is so versatile and an enjoyable activity that can be done in parallel with a child or together. Container play is a powerful tool for fostering development in young children, especially those with developmental delays. This seemingly mundane activity provides a rich environment for sensory exploration, motor skill development, and cognitive growth.

What is container play?

Container play involves children interacting with various containers—boxes, buckets, bowls, cups, various bags, etc.—and filling, emptying, and transferring objects within and between them. Objects can include literally anything: small beads, bead chains, table tennis balls, wooden pegs, dinosaurs or any other little person toy, blocks of varying sizes, sand, water, or any other safe material. Larger containers obviously take larger items: socks, stuffed animals, bigger balls, bigger blocks etc really the choices are endless.

Benefits for children with developmental delays:

Sensory exploration:

• Touch: Children explore different textures and temperatures of containers and objects.
• Sight: They observe how objects look inside and outside the containers, how light reflects off them, and how colours change.
• Sound: They listen to the sounds of objects clinking, rattling, and splashing.
• Proprioception: Filling and emptying containers helps develop body awareness and spatial awareness.

For neurodivergent children who might have sensory regulation difficulties, consider the following adaptions to accommodate your child’s sensory needs:

• Over-stimulation: For children who are easily overstimulated, start with simple setups using a limited number of containers and objects. Gradually increase the complexity as they tolerate it.
• Under-stimulation: For children who seek sensory input, provide a variety of textures and materials, such as sand, water, slime, or beans.
• Temperature: Offer a variety of temperature options. Some children may enjoy warm water or cool sand.
• Lighting: Adjust the lighting to create a calming or stimulating environment.
• Focus on one sense at a time: Initially, focus on one sensory aspect, such as the feel of sand or the sound of water.
• Weighted containers: Use heavy containers filled with rice or beans to provide deep pressure input.
• Fidget toys: Incorporate fidget toys into the activity to provide sensory input and help with self-regulation.
• Tactile exploration: Encourage exploration of different textures using objects with varying surfaces.

Fine motor skill development:

• Hand-eye coordination: Scooping, pouring, and transferring objects require precise hand-eye coordination.
• Pincer grasp: Picking up small objects helps develop fine motor skills like the pincer grasp.
• Strength and dexterity: Manipulating containers and objects strengthens hand muscles and improves dexterity. Opening and closing containers can be a huge area of interest; how does the top screw back on, or off?

Cognitive development:

• Cause and effect: Children learn that their actions (e.g., pouring water or sand) have consequences (e.g., the water spills).
• Spatial awareness: They develop an understanding of concepts like inside, outside, full, empty, and over/under; also how big is the vessel and how much goes in before it’s full or spills over. How small is the vessel opening and what do I need to do to get the beads into the container.
• Problem-solving: Children learn to solve problems, such as how to get an object out of a narrow container or how to transfer water without spilling.

Social and emotional development:

• Communication: Container play can encourage communication as children interact with others, sharing toys and commenting on their actions. Asking for help to open and close a container is often a great opportunity to practise ‘help me’ or ‘open it’
• Turn-taking: Sharing containers and materials helps children learn to take turns and cooperate.
• Sensory regulation: For children with sensory sensitivities, container play can be a calming and self-regulating activity.

Tips for engaging children in container play:

• Create a safe and inviting environment. A shower curtain on the floor makes things easier for tidy up afterwards. And it allows for spillages.
• Provide a variety of containers: Use different sizes, shapes, and materials. Use containers that are visually interesting and pleasing, perhaps a festive biscuit tin, or a tin that looks like train engine. Use see-through containers at first which make the filling and emptying more obvious. This is important for children who have no previous experience with this type of play and need to ‘warm up’ to it. Once a child loves and is used to container play you can go wild with all types of containers.
• Offer a variety of objects: Include balls, blocks, sand, water, and other age-appropriate materials.
• Join in the fun! Start off the process, show your child what the joy of the activity is for yourself, how fun it is to fill and empty containers, provide enough containers for your child to start playing alongside you, and comment on their actions.
• Follow your child’s lead: Allow them to explore and experiment at their own pace.
• Adapt activities: Adjust the level of challenge based on your child’s abilities and interests.

Container play is a simple yet powerful tool that can support the overall development of young children, especially those with developmental delays. By providing a rich and engaging sensory experience, container play can help children build essential skills in motor, cognitive, social, and emotional domains.

If you have any questions or would like to have more in-depths demonstration of this or other play styles for your child please contact me.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sonja McGeachie

Find a speech and language therapist for your child in London. Are you concerned about your child’s speech, feeding or communication skills and don’t know where to turn? Please contact me and we can discuss how I can help you or visit my services page.