If I had to pick one toy to be in every kids toy box, building blocks is it. It's my no question about it desert island toy for raising a bright, creative, problem solving kid. Whether you dream of your child becoming a wildly imaginative artist or a highly organized engineer, blocks should be on your must get list.
What do your kids get out of playing with blocks? Here are 3 MAJOR benefits.
1. Problem solving and critical thinking skills.
Kids practice solving problems when they figure out how to stabilize towers or figure out how to build what they're imagining. This is off the charts exercise for the brain and awesome groundwork for more complex critical thinking as they get older.
Critical thinking skills means being able to think independently, reason well and solve problems. Obviously, it's super important for success in school and most professions, but it's also important for being able to think freely about the thousands of pieces of information and advertisements thrown at us everyday. Read more about Critical Thinking Skills including easy free things you can do to encourage them in your kids.
2. Creativity and imagination.
Blocks encourage endless creativity. They're like playdough or clay - you give them to kids and they just play with them intuitively. They'll muck about with them, build little structures, make enclosures for farm animals or construct castles - blocks are just such a creative toy.
3. Patience, perseverance and grit.
Kiddos need to try, try and try again to make their vision come alive. Towers collapse. Castles are harder to build than you first thought. Working through the challenges that come up as you try to build your creation builds patience and grit.
Grit is like a muscle - the more you work it the stronger it gets. You need grit to achieve basically any goal in life so it's such a useful skill to practice with our kids. Some think it's the most important factor for success. Who cares if you're bright and creative if you give up the second things get tricky?
So yeah. Blocks rule :)
We have a LOT of blocks at Dilly Dally because we think they are just so incredibly important. Here are a few of our favourites:
Grimm's Wooden Toys Grimm's are the absolute champs when it comes to creative, open ended wooden toys. Whether it's their blocks or incredible rainbow stackers, they make toys that encourage children to create anything they can imagine. Educators LOVE this line of toys for the high quality play they inspire in kids.
Haba Haba makes a whole bunch of awesome block options, from brightly coloured and patterned toddler blocks to the serene, natural wood larger scale blocks you see our son stacking high above.
Areaware These blocks are so gorgeously designed they have a strong grown up following! Perfect for future city planners and architects.
See the full collection for all of our block options.