The development of little hands and minds is always a priority for parents.
Every child needs to have access to building blocks. Blocks not only stimulate a child’s interests and help them express themselves, but also have a range of benefits.
According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children, blocks boost aspects of learning, including:
Self-esteem: Children discover that they have their own ideas as they explore various risks when playing with blocks. This gives them a sense of achievement as they experiment by creating something unique and new.
Imagination: Blocks allow children to develop worlds of their own making and take journeys of their own design. It encourages creative freedoms and equips them with the tools to bring it to life.
Personal, social and emotional development: Children learn to co-construct and negotiate as they play with blocks. By taking turns, sharing materials and working together, they form new bonds and friendships. This kind of play encourages self-reliance, develops a sense of self, and increases their attention span.
Creativity: As children combine and re-combine the various loose parts in various ways, their creativity can be stimulated even further by the addition of small characters or objects as they play.
Self-expression: Playtime is the optimal time for self expression in children. This is used as a tool by child psychologists and therapists, as it is a form of communication that does not need the use of language in order to communicate.
Problem-solving: Problem-solving and reasoning skills are developed by playing with blocks. This either happens as a natural occurrence where children learn what works and what does not, or as a deliberate action, where they continue to develop a situation while they play.
Maths: Blocks are the best tools for kids to use when practising their counting skills. They can not only compare shapes and sizes, but also create patterns The shapes, sizes, and colours help children identify the number of items they have, identify the size of their creation, estimate the dimensions, and evaluate symmetry.
Literacy and communication: Children find different opportunities to communicate as they play and this encourages the development of their vocabulary. This is then unlocked further by engaging with parents and friends as they use the blocks as a prop when telling or creating their stories.
Physical development: Children are physically stimulated by blocks, strengthening their fingers, hands and arms as they play. This also develops hand-eye coordination, and encourages spatial awareness.
– My Pressportal
