American toy designer Cas Holman advocates "open-ended play". She tells Dezeen that with children's lives becoming increasingly regimented, we need to let them play more freely.
Designer and educator Cas Holman creates toys for children that allow them to use their imaginations, in a industry that she says is dominated by movie product tie-ins.
"Children's lives are very programmed, very scheduled," Holman explained, "there aren't a lot of opportunities for young people to say 'what do I want to do now"' or ask 'I'm sitting next to this thing, what shall I do with it"'"
"A lot of the options that we give to children don't allow for freedom, we don't give them the freedom to play," she continued. "I try to give them a little room so that in play they can decide how or if to use something."
"They get to shape the story"
Rhode Island-based Holman set up her company, called Heroes Will Rise, 18 years ago. It produces toys, learning materials and playgrounds designed for children.
She recently featured in the latest series of Netflix design documentary Abstract, alongside head of the Mediated Matter Group at MIT, Neri Oxman, and Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson.
The products Holman designs are flexible to encourage the child to use their imaginations rather than follow strict instructions, something she thinks is increasingly important as children's lives are becoming busier and more structured.
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