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Evan (in yellow) and Alex (in red) rearrange bottomless wooden boxes into play props that have qualitatively different functions: a train to sit in, a tunnel to crawl through, a bridge to walk over, an enclosure to hide toy animals inside, and a chute to toss a ball into. When a child is able to change the function of an object by changing his perspective to that object, he learns an important lesson. When I want a new function, I do not have to discard the object. I change the object (e.g. rotate) instead of exchange the object. This important lesson in problem solving, “change without exchange,” was a guiding principle in the design of play spaces in our eBook Constructive Play. You can read this eBook by clicking here.

Download the full four minute video clip and watch Alex and Evan transform the function of these bottomless boxes, realizing that boxes with bottoms would not have afforded such creative variations. Your download will include a text file with a detailed analysis of their play and its significance for child development.