Give a child a stack of blocks to play or colors, paper, scissors and glue then stand back as their imagination expands across the living room floor.  Be warned, however, this does make life a little sticky and glittery at times (all the time), and walking can become an obstacle course. 

The art of play can not be underestimated.  As Friedrich Froebel, the founder of Kindergarten, said, “Play is the work of children.”  Play is how they experiment and learn how to build the world of tomorrow.  Toys and tools that allow children to manipulate, imagine and create are the biggest brain builders.  Some of my favorites are listed below.  You can find samples of some under the Toys heading at DreamArc, if you need any for your little ones to fill their growing hands and minds.

Construction Toys

The Building Blocks page at DreamArc and the earlier blog entry here give a list of some of the brain building power of these little cubes, rectangles and cylinders. 

Toys for Developing Abstract Design & Spatial Awareness

For the manipulation of color, shapes and design beyond the basic building blocks

Imaginative Play Toys

Puppets and play things to add color and dimension, bringing the imagination to life

Crayons, Markers, Chalk & Paint

The basics to illustrate the stories pouring out of those brains, and for designing the Robot Dragons and Amusement Parks of tomorrow

Remember when you leave for the office in the morning with your suit covered in glitter –

Playing Is Hard Work!    

And Important!

 Children Constructing Their World

Shelves full of wooden blocks hold the building units needed for a child to construct the world.  These simple cubes, rectangles and triangles exist as the concrete equivalent of a child’s imagination.  Towers grow from simple rows and stacks, towers containing the world of childhood, and examining the elusive world of adults.  Pieces of wood strengthen the fingers of toddlers and the friendships of schoolmates.  The medium is as simplistic and complex as a child’s world.

 What Can Playing With A Pile Of Blocks Teach?

Quite A LOT!

The concept of Kindergarten originated with Friedrich Froebel  in 1840.  A strong believer that children learned through play, he developed sets of wooden building blocks for play and teaching that he referred to as “Gifts.”  Caroline Pratt later developed standards for a set of blocks we now refer to as “Unit Blocks” that are used in Kindergartens today.  From these “Unit Blocks” a child can play and learn all the elements needed in education through the first grade and beyond. 

 So….

What Can Be Learned?

Math   Space, Shape, Counting, Patterns, Size, Fractions, Symmetry

Science   Gravity, Planning, Problem Solving,  Balance, Cause and Effect, Inductive Thinking

Art   Pattern, Creativity, Design, Order, Symmetry, Self-Expression

Literacy   Reading “Visual Directions,” Naming, Labeling, Discussion and Planning

Oral Language   Story Sequence with Role Playing, Directions for Clean-up, Directional Words

Come Learn and Build with us at DreamArc