Did you know that the humble toy known as alphabet blocks date all the way back to 1693? Or that they have been inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame?
You really can't get much more basic than these cubes and other shapes of brightly colored wood and plastic. As an integral component of a child's toy box, blocks have staying power because they are so versatile.
They also provide several developmental benefits. Let's take a closer look at four reasons that building blocks for kids are such an iconic plaything!
Motor Skills
One of the biggest benefits of playing with building blocks is that they help a child develop their motor skills and their hand-eye coordination.
It's not easy for a toddler to stack blocks in such a way that they form a tower or other structure. By persevering, however, your child will develop their coordination. This is an essential part of his or her early development.
Blocks also benefit a child's fine motor skills. Also known as dexterity, fine motor skills flourish when a child learns how to coordinate the muscles in his or her hands. By manipulating blocks and other objects, young kids become adept at small physical actions like stacking and balancing.
Language and Communication Skills
Sets of building blocks generally come with a variety of differently shaped and colored pieces. Sometimes building blocks are decorated with letters, numbers, or simple pictures depicting farmyard animals and other ordinary things.
By playing with blocks day in and day out, your child will begin to pick up on concepts like colors and shapes. You can encourage him or her to learn these, too. Ask your toddler to hand you the block with a cat on it, to place the long skinny block on top of the wide block, or to choose a block that is the same color as your t-shirt.
Creativity
It is fascinating to watch children at play. They work hard at it! And chances are that if you give one hundred different kids the same set of toy blocks, they will build one hundred different structures.
Blocks are one of the best toys for enabling a child's imagination and creativity to blossom. Stacking them in different configurations leads to almost infinite possibilities.
It's no wonder that we even use the phrase "building blocks" when we are talking about creating just about everything!
Spatial Intelligence
Are you good at arranging suitcases and boxes inside a car trunk so that no space is wasted? What about choosing the right size of plastic container to hold all the leftover spaghetti sauce? That's your spatial intelligence at work.
Spatial reasoning is what allows us to visualize objects and their motion in our "mind's eye." Not only that, but high spatial intelligence is linked to other cognitive abilities, including problem-solving. As you can imagine, playing with building blocks is an incredibly effective way to develop spatial intelligence.
Final Thoughts About Building Blocks for Kids
The best part about giving your child blocks to play with? They are plain ol' fun!
In many ways, there is no better toy than building blocks for kids. Check out the selection of high-quality blocks that we offer, and jump-start your child's development today!