The Benefits of Block Play
One of the simplest inventions in history happens to be one of the most beneficial for early childhood development—blocks. Through these versatile construction toys, children not only have fun—they build skills for their future.
Creative Expression
Because they are a form of open-ended play, blocks stimulate creativity, enabling kids to use their imagination and explore possible combinations while expressing their unique little selves.
Educational Enrichment
Blocks also help develop mathematical and scientific abilities, teaching youngsters to look at patterns and symmetry and quantities, as well as understand concepts of weight and balance—a tumbling tower is a real-life lesson about how gravity works!
Kids even grow psychologically, developing mental focus, patience, planning, and gaining a sense of accomplishment. We can witness intellectual progress as kids advance from stacking a couple cubes on top of each other to building more complex, organized structures. From start to finish, kids improve their problem-solving skills as they discover what works, what doesn’t, and how to navigate frustration.
Block play is physically beneficial, too. Children use their whole bodies as they build their structures, which spurs motor skill development and increases spatial awareness, hand-eye coordination, movement control, and balance.
Social Development
There’s a social benefit to this type of play, too. Block-building fosters social skills as kids co-construct, communicate, negotiate, and cooperate with others. It’s amazing (not to mention cute) to see first friendships form with each added block to a structure.
Block Play at Small Strides
The timeless activity of block play is instrumental in early childhood education. At Small Strides, blocks are always available, and we invite kids to interact with them throughout the day. According to the national standards for block play, all of our classrooms score between “good” and “great”. We achieve these ratings not only because we have enough quality blocks and accessories available, but because our staff actively teaches through this stimulating activity, inspiring kids to learn in hands-on ways, one block at a time.
