Activities to Do with Young Children Using Blocks
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Blocks are for More Than Just Stacking
Blocks are a great investment to make, because your child can do so much more than just simply stacking them and knocking them down. When I was previously doing early intervention therapy with young children, there were times that we managed to play with blocks (in different ways) for a whole hour! Join me as I share ten block activities.
(photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/quoimedia/5306982448/)
Stack Them Up!
* Yes, stacking is an obvious activity with blocks. However, it seemed incomplete to not mention it. Work on trying to stack in different ways, such as fast or slow. (This is a great way to work on introducing lots of adjectives into your child's vocabulary!) Stacking is also a wonderful opportunity to work on counting. A Great Set of Basic Blocks
Melissa & Doug Deluxe 50-piece Wooden ABC/123 Blocks Set
Amazon Price: $8.59 (as of 05/28/2012)
If you don't already own blocks, this is definitely the set to get. Although different shapes are great, this basic, traditional block set is the way to go, if it's going to be your only set.
Fun for children of many ages, these blocks should hold up to a lot of play.
There's More Than One Way to Knock Them Down
* Know The Tower Down! Again, it's an obvious one, but it is a favorite of young children. Try knocking down in different ways - hands, feet, elbows, knees, bottom, ears - whatever! This makes it a fun activity to work on naming body parts.Note: it is important to work with your child, however, on not knocking down blocks of other children. So, it can be a good idea to work on a verbal cue that helps them to know when knocking down the blocks is okay.
*Knock the Tower Down (Part 2) Set up a tower for your child on the opposite side of the room. Have them hop across the room and knock the tower down. Continue the activity with a variety of modes of getting across the room. (Make sure to let your child do some stacking for you and advise you on how to get across the room too.)
*Block the Tower Down After you and your child build a tall tower, have them try to knock down the tower only by blowing on it. This is a great oral-motor activity. This can be challenging, so make sure that the tower is very tall (so it's a little wobbly) before trying it or your child may get frustrated with this activity.
What's Your Favorite of These Block Activities?
C'mon - you know you have a favorite
Altnernate Block Activities
Some Things You Might Not Have Thought Of...
*Shape Matching A great problem solving activity for small children is for you to build a shape and then ask your child to try to build the same shape. An example might be to have a line of three blocks and then one block on top of the front block. Then you can push it around and "Choo Choo" like a train. Ask your child to then build their own train.
*Large Construction If your child is past the point where they immediately want to knock over the blocks, it can be fun to build larger things like roads (and use those with matchbox cars), pyramids, houses, or anything else that you can imagine and build. Just don't be disappointed if your child decides that it is suddenly a great time to knock down the whole creation.
*Obstacle Course Set up a line of blocks and have your child jump over the blocks. Make sure to join in - it can be great exercise! Let your child help to think of other obstacles to make.
Our Favorite Block Set
Melissa & Doug 60-Piece Standard Unit Blocks
Amazon Price: $30.14 (as of 05/28/2012)
This is a fabulous block set for kids that are just a little bit older. Very young children might have some difficulty with the different shapes. But, for older toddlers and preschool-aged children (and older), these blocks are the best.
My elementary-aged children still set up interesting structures to use while they're playing. So, while this set is more of an investment, it will last your child more years than a standard block set, typically.
A Few More Alternate Block Activities
*Jack Be Nimble Set up two (or three) blocks in a stack and take turns jumping over them while reciting the following nursery rhyme:Jack be nimble,
Jack be quick,
Jack jumps over the candlestick.
*Block bowling Just like with empty bottles, you can set up block towers to use as bowling pins. Have your child grab a ball and knock them down. (Speaking of balls, you can also check out some ball activities.)
*Homemade Blocks Clean and empty food boxes from your kitchen can make great homemade blocks. You can use things like cereal boxes, square tissue boxes (since they don't have an open side), cracker boxes, and pasta boxes - just to name a few. You can make them sturdier by filling the boxes with crumpled newspaper and taping all the openings with masking tape. Not only is it fun to be able to make much larger block structures because of the size of your homemade blocks, but your child will need to problem solve for the best ways to build with blocks of different sizes and shapes.
Blocks, Blocks, Blocks
New Guestbook Comments
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JDWheeler
Sep 21, 2011 @ 2:48 pm | delete
- Blocks are awesome and the possibilities are endless!
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KonaGirl
Sep 17, 2011 @ 11:48 am | delete
- Welcome to Squidoo! A very nice first lens!building blocks are such fun for children and an important part of developing motor skills and brain skills using their imagination. Keep up the great work and make more lens!
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HarmonyArtMom
Sep 17, 2011 @ 7:10 am | delete
- Beautiful lens. I have our set of wooden blocks stored away as an heirloom for anyone who is going to want and appreciate them. My children played blocks everyday...they were everything from roads to castles. Thanks for generating more interest in a great imaginative toy for young ones.
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Jimmie
Sep 16, 2011 @ 4:40 pm | delete
- Blocks are so fun. I love the feel of quality wooden blocks, and I admit that knocking them down is just as satisfying as building.
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My name is Angie, and I'm a university trained elementary and special education teacher. I taught in the public school system for a few years before s... more »
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