When it comes to keeping little ones entertained, most parents instinctively reach for the toy box. But a new study suggests that handing kids something unexpected — like a whisk or a potato masher — might actually do more for their development than any store-bought toy ever could. According to research reported by Daily Mail, toddlers and young children tend to focus more intensely on unfamiliar objects and spend significantly more time exploring them compared to the playthings they see every day. The findings challenge the conventional wisdom around what makes for meaningful, enriching play.
The research was conducted by Delaney Witmer, a graduate research student at Arizona State University, who observed how 32 children between the ages of two and four interacted with both familiar and unfamiliar objects inside their own homes. Parents were asked to select a safe but novel item their child had never played with before, and most chose something from the kitchen. Researchers then tracked how each child engaged with both types of objects over a 10-minute play session. The range of unfamiliar items used in the study included whisks, potato mashers, tea strainers, funnels, and colanders, while the familiar objects consisted of dolls, toy cars, and plastic food.
The numbers told a clear story. On average, children touched the novel objects around 40 times during the session, compared to roughly 30 times for familiar toys. Each interaction with a new object also lasted longer, averaging about 5.32 seconds per touch versus 4.64 seconds for known items. Witmer presented these findings at a conference held by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Phoenix, where she explained why the novelty factor seems to work so powerfully on young minds. “It captures their attention,” she said. “It’s interesting to them and it helps redirect their focus from something they see every day to something completely new.”
One of the more striking observations from the study was the way children looked to their caregivers when handling unfamiliar objects. When asked whether children appeared more engaged with novel items, Witmer answered, “Absolutely. With new objects, children look at their parent more often, as if they’re seeking guidance on how to play with it.” This kind of social referencing is considered an important part of early learning, as children use parental cues to make sense of their environment. The interaction between parent and child around a new object can itself become a learning opportunity, adding an extra layer of developmental value to what might seem like simple play.
Witmer’s advice to parents is straightforward: offer children safe but unfamiliar objects rather than always defaulting to the contents of the toy bin. “Even if they only play with it for three minutes, they’re still learning something new and they have a chance to explore,” she noted. She also pointed out that early exposure to novel objects can benefit children later in life because new information gets “stored in their brain” during these formative years. In the conclusion of her study, which forms part of her doctoral dissertation, Witmer writes, “Interaction with objects is important for learning and memory in early childhood. Results show that children explore objects longer and hold them longer than parents, especially when it comes to novel objects. These findings could help us better understand how parents can support their children’s exploratory spirit.”
Play is widely recognized by child development experts as one of the most critical activities in early childhood, serving as the primary way young children learn about the world around them. Research in developmental psychology has long shown that object play, in particular, helps children build cognitive skills like problem-solving, cause-and-effect reasoning, and spatial awareness. The concept of “affordances” in developmental science refers to the action possibilities that objects offer to children, and novel objects naturally present more unexplored affordances than familiar ones. Organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics have consistently emphasized that unstructured, exploratory play is essential for healthy brain development in children from infancy through adolescence. Understanding how different types of objects shape early learning can give parents and educators powerful tools to nurture curiosity and intellectual growth from a very young age.
If this research has you rethinking what you put in front of your little one during playtime, share your thoughts and experiences in the comments.
