For The Love of Blocks

I try hard to come up with things that my two year old will sit and do. I also try to incorporate those same items into homeschooling my six year old. There is one single item that I have grown to love....blocks!

I found these foam blocks in the craft section at Wallace World








They came in a box of, oh say, a couple hundred or so (at least that is what they look like when they are dumped in the floor by a two year old!) and they come in such wonderful colors.

Here are our uses for them.

1. They came with a large yellow plastic needle and plastic thread. My little one will sit and string these beads for a good ten or fifteen minutes (which is a woo-doggie! amount of time for him to actually concentrate on something)

2. We do this awesome game (again for my two year old but my six year old enjoys the simpleness of it as well) with them.

I had to head to the doctor's office one day and knew that there would be an awful wait. So, in a moment of pure genius, I grab a pair of my hubby's black socks from the drawer and a these little blocks. I put one or two of each shape and size of blocks in the sock, making sure that each sock had the exact same amount/color/sizes

At the doctor's office, each child was given a sock. I would say "find the large circle" and they would put their little hands deep down into that dark sock (so that they couldn't cheat by looking) and try to find that shape/size.

To my amazement-my two year old did it every time! And it killed a good twenty minutes. Now I must warn you that this game of sticking ones' hand down into a black sock while sitting in a doctors office and pulling out different colored shapes while yelling "I got it! I got it!)" may bring different reactions from those sharing the lobby with you. Just a thought.

3. They are great for homeschooling.







The fact that they are the same size/color/shape makes for a great way to not only practice shape identification/color/shapes but it also helps to teach units/sets/fractions.

I told my six year old, for instance-using the small ones pictured, that the rectangle shape that they make has been divided into fourths. Each one is 1/4. Two makes 1/2 of the shape, three makes 3/4 of the shape and so on.

They do a much better job than chocolate graham crackers (*guilt* especially when one said homeschooling/nursing mom shouldn't eat wheat!)

4. They are great for stacking and making towers