What Kids Learn From Block Play & 6 of the Best Block Sets

Building blocks are a remarkably beneficial toy for children. They offer numerous advantages, ranging from emotional growth and resilience to developing art, visual-spatial skills, and engineering abilities. Generations of kids, parents, and teachers have recognized that playing with blocks isn't just enjoyable – it’s highly beneficial for development! Despite their simple appearance, blocks are incredibly versatile and may be the most adaptable toy ever created. 

Children interact with blocks in diverse ways, each showcasing their individual creativity. True innovation in block design allows kids to tap into their imaginations and natural creativity. A high-quality block set should prioritize engagement and provide fresh avenues for imaginative play. Let’s take a closer look at how blocks promote the development of a wide array of essential skills, along with a few of our favorite building block sets.

Benefits of Playing With Blocks

The benefits of block play are numerous, providing lots of opportunities for a child's development.

• Enhancing fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination: Stacking blocks and building steady structures require refined fine motor skills and precise hand-eye coordination.
• Fostering social and emotional development: When children collaborate with others during block play, they develop vital skills like cooperation, problem-solving, turn-taking, sharing, and self-advocacy.
• Promoting speech and language development: Block play encourages oral self-expression, particularly when children narrate stories about their creations.
• Learning basic math principles: Block play inherently involves elements of math, such as pattern recognition, symmetry, fractions, and linear measurement. Additionally, young children can practice counting and understand one-to-one correspondence.
• Stimulating imagination growth: Blocks serve as "open-ended toys," allowing children to incorporate them into pretend play, where they can become food, cribs for baby dolls, or houses for little animals. Blocks offer versatility and can be combined with other toys for even more imaginative play.
• Discovering engineering and science fundamentals: Through playing with blocks, children solve problems, troubleshoot issues, and test hypotheses related to structure, gravity, and elevation.

The Stages of Block Play

Toddlers progress from stacking three blocks around 16-18 months of age to building more complex structures like four to six-block towers between the ages of 18 and 22 months. Around 23-26 months, they imitate alignment by lining up blocks in a row, honing their precision. As children reach three years old, their block play becomes more imaginative, constructing bridges, tunnels, and elaborate structures. They start sorting blocks, creating roads, paths, and patterns, and telling stories about their creations. Block play remains beneficial as children grow older, fostering collaboration, problem-solving, critical thinking, and communication skills. Preschool and early elementary teachers also utilize blocks for lessons in math, science, language arts, and social studies due to their universal appeal and versatility among mixed-age groups.

Our Favorite Building Block Sets for Kids

Even for a toy as incredibly simple as a set of blocks, you’ll find a lot of diversity. Take a look at some of our favorites – from old classics to new innovations.

The Big Box of Thistle Blocks by Small World Toys

The Big Box of Thistle Blocks by Small World Toys features cool snap-it construction blocks that make building a breeze! Just press blocks together to build cool 3D objects. Box includes 65 plastic pieces assorted blocks. Play is fundamental to each child's development; this core philosophy at Small World Toys pushes us to create and design even more inventive, engaging kids' products. Small World Toys: Making dreams come true since 1962.

Small World Toys Thistle Block 65 Piece Bucket

Tegu Magnetic Wooden Block Set, 42-Piece Sets

Tegu Blocks are heirloom toys meant to be passed from generation to generation. They're a modern twist on a beloved classic. The Tegu Magnetic Wooden Blocks Sets are large building sets that allows for big and tall creations and includes tall columns, medium columns, mega planks, long planks, short planks, cubes, parallelograms, short angles, and wheels. Designed in the USA and purposefully made in Honduras, these blocks are constructed from eco-friendly, sustainably-sourced hardwoods and safe, non-toxic, water-based lacquers (for colors and clear coats). 

Tegu Magnetic Wooden Blocks Sets

Legos

It wouldn’t be a good article about blocks without mentioning one of the most popular building toys on the planet: Legos! The iconic plastic building blocks are loved by both adults and children all over the world. Playing with Lego can benefit children in so many ways, such as developing logical and imaginative thinking. This 790-piece set contains a variety of colors and pieces for building anything from a toy scooter to a toy house. Kids can build and play for hours with 8 different types of toy windows and toy doors, 2 green baseplates and 6 toy tires and toy wheel rims. It won’t be long before kids are using this creative kit to build a castle or build a figure. The LEGO Classic Large Creative Brick Box is the perfect construction set to complement other LEGO sets or play with on its own! Brand Story By LEGO