BabyThoughts.ca's Weekly Toy Box

Three of our beautiful Made in Europe toys are in this week's Toy Box. Up to 40% off!

Constructino from Selecta
reg $65.95 now $46.17

Fantasy Land Jigsaw Blocks from Haba
reg $65.95 now $49.46

Fire Truck from Vilac
reg $34.95 now $20.97

Using Blocks to Teach

I came across this great article from ChildUp.com about how blocks make great tools to teach children about social studies.

I am a huge fan of blocks and we have two sets of different blocks that my 6 year old daughter got when she was about 2 years which she still plays with and is now being used by my 1 year old. I also wrote a post back in October about why I believe that blocks are a must have toy for any child.

The author Angela De Vincenzo a first grade teacher gives tips on how to incorporate blocks into the classroom. These tips can also be used by parents and caregivers.

A great place to start is by visiting places, or buildings that the child or children are studying or are interested in. It could be an important building in your city, like city hall or a sports arena, a fire station, or even a bridge. They can then take pictures or do drawings which they will use to help them when building with the blocks.

As the author writes "These visual images keep the building work focused, realistic and grounded as the children aim to represent what they have seen."

Block building will also encourage social interactions. It will get them to talk about what they are building, to communicate with others what they would like done, as well as to problem solve and to negotiate.

As well, it promotes imaginative play, specially if they have been to the real life building and know more about it. The children will be able to image themselves there and what kinds of things they would do there.

With my 6 year old daughter, she likes to use the blocks to build race tracks, especially after we took her to see the Honda Indy in Toronto last year. She has also used blocks to build houses and buildings that her stuffed animals can live in.

It's also great to provide other materials such as cardboard, plasticine, stickers or fabric that the child can use to add to the block building experience and encourage some creativity on what it could be. They can make furniture out of plasticine or decorate their buildings and make them more to their style. My daughter has added stickers to her blocks because to her stickers make things special.

There is no doubt that the play and teaching possibilities with blocks is quite extensive and so much fun for all. If you are wondering what toy to add to your child's toy collection take a look at all the great blocks available.

Fantasy Building

One of the best toys you can give a child is a set of blocks. Blocks are great at promoting the development of fine motor skills, imaginative play and creativity. They can also be used as educational tools for counting, sorting, pattern making, and learning shapes and colours.

The Haba building blocks certainly achieve all of the above and are sure to capture your child's imagination with their attention to detail and the unique and whimsical designs.

From the Cordoba Building Blocks with its 'Arabian Nights' inspired designs, containing 16 pieces total, in bright saturated colours, some with swirls, squares, arches, domes, dots--even one block with pearl beads rattling around inside.

To the Fantasy Land Jigsaw Blocks with its dazzling design and shapes, contains one piece with a mirror, one with a cat, and more with stars, swirls, and polka dots.

Designed and made in Germany from beech wood and painted with acrylic non-toxic paints. The Haba Block sets are a great addition to your child's toy box, whether on their own, together or incorporated with their existing block collection.

Made In Canada!

We are so excited to offer our first Canadian made toy...Ukoonto!

We discovered the beautiful building blocks at the Healthy Kids Expo this fall and could not wait to show them off. In fact, we introduced them at both the Children's Trunk Show and the BabyTime Show. We had one complete set out for kids to play with and they enjoyed creating different building structures out of the pieces.

The Ukoonto blocks are made from hard maple wood, they are not treated with any kind of lacquer, paint or finish, which makes the very safe for little ones to put in their mouths.

The set comes with 50 pieces in classic shapes such as rectangles, triangles, and arches. The blocks have been tested to be safe for children 9 months+. At this age, children will love stacking them up, and as they get older they will get more creative in what they create with them. This is certainly a toy that will grow with your child and will be enjoyed in many different ways.

Building blocks are a wonderful toy to stimulate a child's creativity, spatial thinking, and fine motor skills. They offer children infinite possibilities in what they can build and create. They are truly a must have toy!