How To Enhance Learning With Melissa And Doug Toys & Building Blocks
Building blocks are one of the best development toys that you can purchase for your children
. Child development experts believe that the use of creative play, such as building blocks, help children excel throughout their life. As a parent, you should learn how and when to use different blocks to enhance a childs learning.
Kids have played with wooden building blocks long before there were video games or electronic toys. One of the great things about blocks is they are powered by a childs imagination, not by batteries or electricity. Today, building blocks are available in age ranges from babies and infants to older children who can build castles and other architectural structures. Popular brands include Melissa and Doug Toys, Maxim and Citiblock.
Soft blocks are recommended for infants from twelve to fifteen months because they are large enough for little hands and provide a safety cushion should the child fall on the blocks. Young children will learn spatial recognition skills while they learn to stack the blocks into a tall tower or smaller columns. Even at this age, you can begin to teach a child math skills by counting the blocks as you build towers.
For toddlers over the age of fifteen months it is important to instill both personal and group play. At this age, kids are just beginning to be able to grasp the idea of using the blocks to create 3 dimensional structures, such as a barn. Add some wooden animals, and your child can build his own farm, moving the animals into and out of the barn.
Wooden building blocks also enhance learning skills for preschool and school-age children. Creating a multi-level garage, farm, or dollhouse from blocks teaches a child independent thinking, fine motor skills, and mental creativity. Melissa and Doug Toys offers a set of wooden construction vehicles which allows your child to learn spatial recognition, how to use toys for movement of items, and the building of complex buildings and sites.
Children do not have to build things in order to obtain enhanced learning skills. Counting, color identification, and sorting are additional skills that will be developed with the use of wooden building blocks. Simple games, such as putting the blocks into piles of two (or more) help a child learn to count. If you have room in your home, you can make a tower of blocks and let the child roll a ball towards the tower until it falls down. This game helps kids develop hand-eye coordination.
For maximum benefits, choose age-appropriate blocks. Melissa and Doug Toys are a popular brand that offers a huge selection of blocks for kids of all ages. Older kids require tougher challenges that come from using smaller pieces, with mixed colors, shapes and sizes. Encouraging them to tell you about their building blocks creation can also promote development of communication skills as they attempt to verbalize what they have done in a logical manner. Mixing small and large wooden building blocks allows for intricate designs and fine tunes motor skills. Adding flat, round, and rectangular blocks allows for complex block playing, which further enhances a childs learning ability and can be used to develop math skills they will carry throughout life.
Playing with wooden building blocks can instill a sense of accomplishment in your child and motivate them to learn, grow and build more than just a stack of blocks.
by: Kanooga
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