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Simple wooden building blocks, a standard in many preschools and homes, are marvelous tools for fostering young children’s cognitive development. They have great play-appeal for young children. If you do not yet have a set, they are available at reasonable prices from Melissa and Doug. Children’s skills are fostered in many important areas while playing with the blocks, from social and emotional development to physical development and even key cognitive skills.
Social and emotional development is fostered by playing with building blocks as children negotiate for desired pieces or make decisions as to how many children can work on a given project. By discussing differing ideas on the building process, children learn to listen and respect other’s views. By working together to follow the rules, take care of materials, and achieve goals, children gain essential social skills.
Physical development at this age is also fostered through block play Small children need to develop their growing muscles and the various actions required to play with wooden building blocks develops dexterity and strength. They exercise small muscles through careful work with individual blocks in intricate designs; this develops eye-hand coordination skill as well. They exercise large muscles when they lift big blocks or several blocks at once, or carry blocks across the room.
Key cognitive skills including language development and the foundations of logical thinking are directly and indirectly developed through block play. Language development is fostered through talking about their building projects with adults who take an interest. They rapidly increase their vocabulary when adult conversation exposes them to new words to describe their building and methods. Children can even practice writing by making simple signs to accompany their constructions. If you’re using alphabet blocks like those put out by Melissa and Doug, children can even use the blocks themselves to create a title for their piece.
Playing with building blocks gives children direct tactile knowledge of size and shape relationships, number and order, length and weight, and patterns. This concrete understanding of concepts is an essential foundation for logical thinking. Children’s minds are filled with mental images as they experience the world brand-new for the first time and try to process what they see. Playing with blocks provides an opportunity for children to transform these mental images into real-world constructions, giving them practice in bringing ideas into reality and strengthening their understanding of how the world works. Melissa and Doug building blocks are specially designed with education in mind, using colors, shapes and sizes to facilitate learning.
You will see children engage in block play at different levels, some more advanced and productive than others. There are typical stages children go through, from initial reaction to the pieces themselves, through early experimentation, and culminating in large, intricate constructions. All children tend to go through the same stages, but at differing rates.
Blocks bring about a whole range of positive cognitive exercises. They stimulate creativity and imaginative and constructive play, from simple designs to complex models of bridges and skyscrapers. It is important to remember that children will benefit the most from playing with building blocks when parents and teachers interact with them and help them. So bring out the blocks, set a few rules, let the kids have a good time, and join with on them for a few minutes during their play, if you can. Always sure to take plenty of time at the conclusion of block time to admire and talk about everyone’s creations.
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