Block play is a huge deal at my house. My kids adore building with blocks and I love their enthusiasm because blocks are so open-ended and grow with children, not to mention they are an excellent toy that encourages fine motor development.
At my house, and for my preschool we have several different kinds of blocks available to the children. We have traditional wooden blocks that my dad made for my kids. Some are large wooden blocks, some are as small as a square inch. My dad also made some wooden planks, and I bought some wooden ball and eggs which we painted with liquid watercolor. In addtition to traditional wooden blocks, I also have foam blocks of different sizes available, as well as Duplo Lego blocks and some soft, stuffed blocks.
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Like any other fine motor skill, block play comes in predictable stages of development. While not every child may meet milestones within those stages at the exact same time, all children develop through the same stages of block play.
For more information about how children develop through the predictable stages of block play, head on over to Playdough to Plato where I explain what block play looks like from infancy through elementary school. In addition, at the end of the post I site some excellent ideas on how to encourage more block play!
Blocks that might be of interest
Enjoy!
I’m Sarah, an educator turned stay-at-home-mama of five! I’m the owner and creator of Stay At Home Educator, a website about intentional teaching and purposeful learning in the early childhood years. I’ve taught a range of levels, from preschool to college and a little bit of everything in between. Right now my focus is teaching my children and running a preschool from my home. Credentials include: Bachelors in Art, Masters in Curriculum and Instruction.
