CaDA Elements encouraging open ended play
July 26, 2023
The CaDA Elements line offers a variety of play sets and products that will keep your kids entertained for hours while also teaching them valuable STEAM skills. Our sets all focus on open-ended play and are designed to encourage kids to build beyond the brick and think of new, imaginative ways to create.
The power of open ended play
By this point, we are all familiar with how kids play with construction brick sets. When a child receives a brand new set, they immediately open it up, dump all the pieces on the floor, and begin working through the instructions. After an hour or two, the set is complete, and the kid begins playing with it, letting their imagination take over.
Inevitably, however, the set is torn apart. No matter how connected the kid may feel to the creation, it is almost always broken down and rebuilt into something entirely new. We have seen this experience happen countless times. Whether it is our T-Rex set, our Supercar C61041W, or even simple Initial D Brickheads, kids can’t resist the urge to use the pieces and create their own masterpiece.
Ready to take your child’s imagination on an exciting journey? Well, then we have the perfect toy catalog for you.
And at CaDA, we encourage that!
Traditionally, this ‘extended life’ of the set was not actively acknowledged by most toy manufacturers. They knew their product would be used like this eventually, but they never pursued any products or solutions explicitly for this open-ended and uncontrolled play environment.
With our CaDA Elements line, we not only addressed open ended play, but also created an entire collection of products for it!
For those unfamiliar, our CaDA Elements line combines standard construction bricks with paper and other materials for an elevated and unlimited play experience. Included in every set are instructions for the child (or children) to follow along with making the set also an interesting closed-ended play experience. But beyond that, our entire focus was extending the life of the product. In the CaDA Elements Flower Toys Garden set, for example, we included over 20+ paper leaf and flower pieces for the kid to play with so they could build their very own flower garden, or a whole new creation of their own!
We also included removable pieces in the packaging so the child is encouraged to not only play with the pre-cut leaves and bricks, but also with the raw material. We want kids to look beyond the set and imagine how they can incorporate items they interact with everyday into their builds. We want kids to look at a piece of paper, or a roll of string as not just objects, but play items!
Incorporating STEM learning
As we all know, a quality education is not just about learning facts and figures. It is also about learning how to think critically and solve problems. One of the best ways to develop these skills is through open ended playful experimentation. This is especially relevant for children who are still learning about the world around them. Through open ended experimentation, kids can work through more complex problems while also having fun, allowing them to absorb and learn critical skills outside of the classroom.
STEM toys for endless open ended play
As we continue developing the CaDA Elements line, our goal is to fuse these two concepts together to create a play experience that combines open ended play with critical STEAM skill development.
Our first product on the market, the CaDA Elements Clip Brick, allows kids to easily connect their standard bricks with any type of planar material, such as cardboard, paper, aluminum foil, or anything else they can find! Kids can experiment by creating hybrid builds that push the envelope in terms of what a ‘brick creation’ is.
Our next product on the market will help push that idea even further! Being released in the next few months, this product will make the assembly and creation of ‘alternate bricks’ even easier. Imagine being able to integrate a piece of paper fully with standard bricks…Stay tuned!
To us, the ‘Build Beyond the Brick’ system at its core is all about encouraging unlimited open ended play while also educating kids through playful STEAM based experimentation. We’ve taken the ‘extended life’ of our construction sets and encouraged kids to not only search for different bricks to add to their imaginative builds, but also elements in the world around them.
Our commitment to recycling and the environment
As we’ve mentioned before, our CaDA Elements sets were designed to inspire kids' open ended play. In addition, we also have taken great steps to ensure that this open ended play does not result in extra harmful plastic being created.
For starters, each CaDA Elements set comes with instructions on how to utilize the original packaging as part of the build. Traditionally, the packaging is thrown out, wasting not only material, but also playability. We added in removable elements, play bases, and even structures, encouraging kids to create not only what’s included, but inspiring them to continue building with the leftover corrugate material.
At CaDA, we knew we had to do something to prevent this. After diligently searching for different solutions, we now produce all of our bricks with bio-degradable additives that allow them to maintain the same durability and toughness of traditional ABS material, but also help them disintegrate naturally when disposed of. These materials all adhere to the strictest international safety standards, including BSCI, CE, FCC, ASTM F-963, ROHS, and others. As a result, our CaDA Elements Sets are not only made with the highest quality materials, but also promote recycling awareness, sustainability, and help protect our planet.
With the added bonus of being environmentally friendly and sustainable, our sets offer all these unlimited possibilities while also protecting the planet. Grab a CaDA Elements Set today, and let the play begin!
Read more about our creative building toys! We’ll tell you all of the cool things that CaDA Bricks does.
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