THEY look just like everyday objects, but kids love them. Bits of string, empty boxes and kitchen utensils tend to hold the attention of young children for hours, much to the bafflement of watching adults.

The expensive, shop-bought plastic toys can end up sitting in the corner as toddlers root through adults’ handbags for things to play with.

But this is nothing new, according to Sue Gascoyne, who said children learn through play and using their senses – touch, sound, taste, vision and smell.

The managing director of Colchester-based Play to Z, which offers products and advice on sensory play, explained children’s imagination, problem solving and learning are stimulated by playing with everyday objects, which often offer plenty to keep the five senses occupied.

“A lot of current toys just stimulate the visual sense, but once children have felt a plastic toy, that is it,” said Sue, a mum-of-two of Distillery Lane. “There are no extras, such as hot and cold, heavy and light. When children play, they are learning about the world so you need an open-ended resource. It’s incredibly simple.”

Treasure baskets, baskets of objects that stimulate all the senses and instead of being mass-manufactured toys, were originally invented by Elinor Goldschmied in the Forties. They are designed for babies from when they can sit up, through to older children and can be adapted and changed as children grow older.

Sue, who offers treasure baskets as part of her business, has embarked on research to find out just how valuable sensory play is to children’s development. Working with Anglia Ruskin University in Chelmsford, phase one of the research has involved observations on how children play and a questionnaire for parents and people who work with young children, about how they used to play as children.

Completing the questionnaire made many parents realise the freedom they had as children, which their own children were not getting.

She explained: “We have got ourselves into a situation where we have attached value as parents to plastic stuff and we are more concerned about stranger danger. Children have less freedom.

“We are more concerned about children getting messy, whereas in previous times when people had less money they needed to keep clothes clean, but had a set of things that didn’t matter if they got messy. The memories that have stuck for these adults were making mud pies and getting dirty.”

Pressure to spend lots of money on the latest toys at Christmas and for birthdays has also made things worse, said Sue, whereas treasure baskets would not only help children’s development, but also parents’ pockets.

Sue said: “Parents might look at the treasure baskets and think, it’s a load of rubbish. It’s not the child that needs educating, it’s the parents. They need to allow children to play with these resources to let them become totally absorbed in play.

“We can be guilty of interrupting play. We say, it’s lunchtime, or bath time, so we can stick to a routine and a lifestyle. The child could be deeply focused and concentrating on play. Then when they are older we say they can’t focus and concentrate on anything. How can they if they were not allowed to early on?”

Sue said for those who took part in the UK-wide research, which also included nurseries and parents whose children attend childcare in Colchester and Braintree, it has opened their eyes. She explained: “The practical focus has enabled parents and practitioners to review what they are doing and what they are offering children. Very experienced managers from children’s centres have said they have learned from this process. It will affect and change children’s opportunities.”

At Orchard Barns private kindergarten in Ardleigh, staff have been using treasure baskets for 14 years and incorporated Sue’s Play to Z products within the nursery two years ago.

Staff also answered the questionnaires and have since built on their knowledge of how children play, said manager Susan Moss-Thomas.

Miss Moss-Thomas said: “We make up our own treasure boxes which include things like pine cones, shells and kitchen utensils, but we also ask parents to send things in.

“By playing with these things, children are engaging in the natural world and the length of time they play is longer because they are listening to the sounds they make, feeling, imagining. They are learning through their senses – it’s called heuristic play.

“I would encourage parents to observe their children. If you watch them. they often prefer to play with the wrapping paper or the empty boxes the toys come in, than the toys themselves.

“When I was young I used to play with my grandmother’s button box and the junk box. It’s going back to that kind of sensory play that children enjoy.”

l Parents or childcarers who want to get involved in phase two of the research – involving filmed play observations of children and exploring issues arising from the questionnaire – can contact Sue Gascoyne at research@playtoz.co.uk