The Incredible Benefits Of Building Blocks For Your Toddler

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One thing that I’ve discovered as Aidan has gotten older and ventured into toddlerhood, is his love of stacking literally ANYTHING. It started well before he was a year old; I bought him one of those classic toy shape sorters, and instead of trying to actually sort the shapes, he’d sit there for ages trying to stack them all up perfectly. And I remember one day, about six months ago I’d say, he’d managed to take literally every tin out of the cupboard and stack them all in a neat tower. The look of pride on his face was absolutely adorable. So we did what every parent would do and bought him a ton of building blocks. Like, every different kind imagineable. Probably a bit overkill, but at least the boy’s got options.

Building blocks can be such a great tool in a child’s development, so personally I think they’re one of the best kind of toys that you can buy your child. Jaques of London sent Aidan a great big bag of wooden building blocks, so we can further encourage Aidan’s love of building while helping his development.

Playing with building blocks can help develop things like:

Fine Motor Skills – Encouraging babies and toddlers to grasp, use precise hand movements, and develop their hand-eye coordination
Problem-Solving Skills – They’ll soon work out different ways of stacking (through LOTS of trial and error) to keep the blocks from tumbling over
Creative Play – Children will love building different structures, like houses and castles; it will also encourage them to use their imagination
Social Skills – Encourages children to play together, share, and make friendships
Attention Span – By having to focus on a task like building, it will increase a child’s ability to concentrate, which will be helpful for years to come

This set from Jaques of London has provided Aidan with so many hours of fun already. He loves stacking them one on top of the other to try and create the tallest of towers. His level of concentration when playing with them is actually pretty impressive – you can see it on his face. Though, he does get a bit frustrated when they topple over! But he will stick to it, trying to figure out the best possible way to get his tower to stand. We’ll sit out in the playroom for ages, stacking them and going through the color and shape of each block, and counting them with him.

There are loads of different blocks available on the market, but we’re huge fans of these wooden ones from Jaques of London. Aidan has several toys from them and I cannot recommend them enough! They’re incredibly durable, and great fun, especially if you’re going for a Montessori approach (I’ve actually written a post all about the benefits of wooden toys here).