International School Sotogrande: Why Babies Throw Things & How Heuristic Play Helps

In short

International School Sotogrande: Your 14-month-old grabs a wooden spoon, grips it tightly, drops it from the high chair, and stares down with wide eyes. Then they do it again. And again. Heuristic play is exactly that: the free exploration of everyday objects that allows a baby to discover properties like weight, texture, sound, and balance all by themselves.

Your 14-month-old grabs a wooden spoon, grips it tightly, drops it from the high chair, and stares down with wide eyes. Then they do it again. And again. Heuristic play is exactly that: the free exploration of everyday objects that allows a baby to discover properties like weight, texture, sound, and balance all by themselves.

Far from being an annoying behavior or a “tantrum,” throwing objects is one of the most serious investigations a young child can undertake. And it has much to teach us if we know how to observe.

What Is Heuristic Play and Why Your Baby Needs It

The term was coined by educator Elinor Goldschmied in the 90s to describe the phase where children aged 12 to 24 months explore objects with no apparent purpose. They aren’t trying to build anything or follow instructions. They want to know what happens if: if the object rolls, makes a noise, fits inside another, or feels heavy when dropped.

Montessori pedagogy recognizes this stage as a natural part of the child’s sensitive periods. Between 0 and 3 years, the hand is the main instrument of intelligence. When a baby drops a fabric ball and a glass ball, they are registering differences that no adult could explain with words.

Why Throwing Things on the Floor Isn’t a Problem

This behavior appears around 12 months and intensifies until 24 months. Many adults interpret it as disobedience, but it’s far from it. The baby is testing hypotheses: “Does the object reappear?”, “Does the sound change depending on the surface?”, “Can I control the direction?”.

Developmental psychology links it to the understanding of object permanence and causality, two fundamental cognitive milestones. There’s no point in forbidding it or frustrating a child over something that’s part of their most important work: understanding the physical world.

How to Respond Without Stopping the Exploration

At IMS, we see this behavior every day in our Nido (Infant Community). The key isn’t to stop it, but to offer the right context. At home, you can prepare a safe area with objects where the baby can throw, stack, fit, and release with complete freedom. This avoids the “don’t touch” battle and keeps the child’s investigative impulse intact.

If they throw food from the high chair, they’re probably not hungry or are already finished. Observe before correcting. If they throw toys in the living room, they might need a more defined space to explore without you being in “pick-up mode”.

Want to see how we work on autonomous exploration in the classroom? Book a personalized visit to our school and discover the prepared environment of our Nido.

Ideal Materials for Heuristic Play at Home

You don’t need to buy anything special. The magic of heuristic play lies in the variety of textures, shapes, weights, and behaviors. Elinor Goldschmied proposed three categories that remain the most useful:

• Natural objects: pinecones, large shells, corks, chestnuts, sanded wood pieces.
• Metallic and kitchen objects: wooden spoons, muffin tins, colanders, ladles, small trays.
• Textile and soft objects: fabric scraps, wool balls, bags filled with rice or legumes.

Also add containers of different sizes: cardboard boxes, metal tins, wooden bowls. The baby will spend long minutes putting in, taking out, transferring, and comparing. All of that is pure heuristic play.

Presentation Matters

Place the materials in low baskets, within the child’s reach, without offering instructions. In the Montessori environment of our Nido, we arrange objects grouped by type on open shelves. The child chooses, explores, and returns them when finished. That visible order gives them security and allows them to repeat as many times as needed.

What a Baby Learns While “Just” Playing

Each heuristic play session works on several developmental areas simultaneously:

• Fine motor skills: eye-hand coordination, pincer grasp, gripping and releasing with control.
• Logical thinking: cause and effect, informal classification by physical properties.
• Concentration: a baby absorbed in exploring can maintain focus for several minutes, something we consider essential in Montessori pedagogy for developing willpower.
• Autonomy: the child decides what to touch, for how long, and when to stop. There’s no correct result and no adult evaluating.

Educational neuroscience confirms that these early manipulative experiences strengthen the synaptic connections that will later support abstract learning. In other words: before understanding the concept of gravity in a book, the baby lives it by dropping a fabric block for the fifth time.

Heuristic Rounds: How to Structure a Session

Goldschmied designed a simple format that works very well at home and in the classroom. It’s called a heuristic round and has three phases:

1. Preparation (5 minutes): set out the materials in baskets on a clean surface, with no toys or distractions around.
2. Free exploration (20-30 minutes): sit nearby, observe, and don’t intervene. Don’t say “look how nice” or “put it here”. Your calm presence is enough.
3. Tidying up (5 minutes): sing a short song or make a sound signal to warn. Help the child return the objects to the baskets. That transition is also part of the learning.

At our IMS Nido, we conduct heuristic rounds daily. Children from 12 to 24 months are in the peak sensitive period for manipulation, and offering them this experience consistently makes a real difference in their development.

Common Mistakes When Supporting Heuristic Play

The most common is intervening too soon. If the child is focused on putting corks in a jar, you don’t need to congratulate them or suggest they try another object. Silent concentration is the signal that learning is happening.

Another mistake is offering too many materials at once. Between 15 and 20 objects are enough for one session. If there are more, the baby gets distracted and doesn’t delve into any exploration.

Finally, avoid replacing real objects with shiny plastic toys. The richness of heuristic play lies in the authentic properties of the materials: the real weight of metal, the roughness of bark, the flexibility of fabric. No toy designed to “stimulate” matches what a baby discovers by manipulating the real world.

The Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) emphasizes the importance of offering real materials from the earliest years. It’s not a trend: it’s what child development asks for.

Frequently Asked Questions

At what age does heuristic play start?

Heuristic play usually begins between 12 and 14 months, when the baby can crawl or walk steadily and manipulate objects with both hands. It extends until approximately 24 months, although some children maintain this way of exploring for longer.

Is heuristic play the same as sensory play?

Not exactly. Sensory play encompasses any activity that stimulates the senses, including playdough, water, or lights. Heuristic play specifically refers to the free manipulation of everyday objects grouped in baskets, with an exploration phase and a tidying phase.

How long should a heuristic play session last?

Between 20 and 30 minutes of free exploration is sufficient. At first, younger babies may only manage 10 minutes. Don’t force the duration: if the child loses interest, it’s better to finish and offer the activity another day.

Can I do heuristic play with an 8-month-old baby?

An 8-month-old can explore objects, but doesn’t yet have the fine motor coordination or postural autonomy that characterizes classic heuristic play. For those ages, guided sensory exploration with large, safe objects is more appropriate.

Do I need to buy specific Montessori materials?

No. The basis of heuristic play is everyday objects found at home: kitchen utensils, wooden pieces, fabrics, natural elements. What’s important is the variety of textures, weights, and shapes, not whether they have a Montessori label.

Key Takeaways

Heuristic play isn’t a pastime or an extra activity: it’s the natural way babies aged 12 to 24 months investigate the world around them. Every object they drop, every ladle they bang on the floor, is a legitimate scientific experiment that builds neural connections and strengthens their autonomy.

Prepare a basket with 15-20 varied objects, sit beside them, and observe without intervening. You’ll see concentration, curiosity, and a calm that few activities achieve. If you want your child to grow in an environment where this type of exploration is part of daily life, contact us about our Nido program. At IMS, we accompany each child according to their own pace, from the earliest months.

Viviane Dumont, Director of Studies at International Montessori School Sotogrande.