With so much technology, it’s easy to forget simple toys like blocks. Playing with blocks can range from simple to complex and it’s powered by imagination.
Imaginations are surrounded with holiday magic. What might Santa’s workshop look like? Kids might like to use their blocks and other construction toys to make their own Toyland or Christmas Village. Rudolph and the other reindeer might need a barn. Santa certainly needs some kind of house at the North Pole.
As children play, they will come up with their own ideas about what to do. We can suggest something to them and let them make independent play choices. Some kids may want to make a whole nativity or menorah using Lego or other toys. (This menorah is from The Crumb Factory.)
Both bodies and brains are active when children play with blocks. During their play, they are:
- stacking, balancing, lining up, matching, pulling, pushing, lifting, carrying, and moving in all directions,
- solving problems, planning, testing, and organizing,
- exercising and strengthening both large and small muscles and developing coordination,
- exploring space and spatial orientation and how objects fit and move,
- seeing with eyes and minds, that is visualizing
- imagining and creating
- discovering more about balance and gravity
- figuring out how much energy is just right so blocks don’t get pushed over or knocked out of place
Blocks and constructions toys come in a variety of materials, such as wood, sponge, and plastic. Cubes and boxes aren’t the only shapes and colors are as varied as the rainbow. Because these toys are so adaptable, kids can play with them for different developmental stages. They appeal to both boys and girls, children and adults too.
Kids will challenge themselves as they play and imagine to make higher towers, longer sections, and bigger structures. What will your child build today when playing with blocks?