A gril playing with a plane, showing the benefits of building blocks.

What Are the Benefits of Building Blocks?

Overview

Some educators firmly believe regular play gear does not serve children well – many offering no real benefits. If you are tired of items with flashing lights, pre-programmed phrases, and other features that do little for your kid’s development, we encourage you to look no further than our building blocks.

As the name suggests, these building blocks for kids are age-appropriate blocks that can be stacked, connected, and more to enable creative builds –  from animals to vehicles to city buildings, machines or monsters, and more. Here are the top benefits of block play

  1. Fun Play-Based Learning

Play gear and toys are meant to be a source of fun and joy. Building blocks offer this and more! They are very engaging given their tactile experience (when being handled). They give kids a great sensation of touch as well as perceptions like texture and pressure. They are also visually appealing with many shapes and colors. 

Most importantly, children enjoy manipulating blocks and creating different things. Unlike typical toys, building blocks offer play-based learning that is not only fun but relaxing. Children are free to explore blocks as well as experiment with sorting and stacking. The spontaneous aspect of play is both fun and educational.

A typical example would be a child building a tower using blocks. As they experience the joy of reaching new heights, they also learn about stability. 

  1. Creativity in Children

Building blocks for kids also boost imaginative skills better than regular toys. Since they offer “open-ended play” with no predetermined outcome, kids are free to explore them and build whatever they like. The blocks help kids develop self-expression, the ability to translate inner thoughts into ideas and tangible structures, and much more.

Since building blocks come with many different combinations, shapes, colors, and spatial arrangements, they encourage childhood creativity (curiosity and exploration). What’s more, they encourage children to think “outside the box” since there are no strict rules when playing with them.

Two kids playing with soft foam blocks
  1. Enhances Problem-Solving Skills

There are many stages of block play that present numerous challenges requiring problem-solving abilities. For instance, a kid must focus on the building task at hand, and plan as well as execute their designs.

Matching blocks with similar shapes, sizes, and/or patterns enhances attention span in toddlers and school-going kids. It also comes with cognitive benefits such as pattern recognition and logical reasoning.

  1. Development of Motor Skills

Playing with building blocks also enhances fine motor skills since they must be grasped, moved around, stacked, and fitted together. This makes kids use their hands and fingers more than they would when playing with regular toys. Building blocks will teach your kid how to grasp and strengthen their hand muscles. 

Besides promoting the development of fine motor skills and also enhancing hand-eye coordination – the ability to use the eyes to guide the hands to perform tasks that need the brain to process visual information and transform it into coordinated physical movements.

  1. Builds Confidence

Building blocks offer fun challenges that foster a sense of accomplishment and pride when completed. Regardless of the complexity of the project, completion reinforces a child’s belief in their own abilities. This in turn teaches kids to overcome challenges and prepares them for more/new challenges in learning and life.

6. Helps with Language Development

Building blocks also offer kids the opportunity to play with other kids. Communication and collaboration are critical for language development, we reinforce them by sharing ideas/plans, negotiating roles, and working together to meet a common goal.

Children playing with block animals, showing the benefits of building blocks.

In fact, communication skills are critical for coordinating actions, sharing, discovering, and expressing needs. As kids describe their block creations, give instructions, and ask questions, speech development is inevitable.

  1. Social Skills Development: Collaboration and Kindness

Besides teaching kids how to communicate, building blocks also enhance social skills like taking turns, sharing, and cooperating. Building blocks require collaboration to achieve a common goal. Social skills like kindness must also be exercised through sharing, helping others, and appreciating other people’s creations. Children are also bound to learn how to resolve conflicts.

  1. Safe and Accessible

Lastly, building blocks are generally safe for kids. However, there are building blocks that are made using safer materials than others. The best are made of soft but durable and safe materials like EVA foam. These kinds of blocks are safe regardless of the block-building activity and are also easy to clean, making them perfect for long-term use.

Final Thoughts

In a nutshell, building blocks are the ultimate in play gear. In fact, they are part of many childhood programs offered by the best childhood educators. As a result, there are many reasons to consider buying building blocks for your kid/s as opposed to regular toys. 

The developmental benefits for children range from offering fun-based learning to fostering creativity, enhancing spatial ability/problem-solving/cognitive skills, logical thinking capability, fine motor skills, language skills, social skills, building confidence, and offering safe play. 

Children during block play also learn math skills, spatial reasoning, and abstract concepts, they also experience emotional development. However, not all building blocks are made the same. You need to consider brands like Bright Day Building Blocks that are tested and proven to offer everything from foundational skills to safety to endless fun.

Buy High-Quality EVA Foam Building Blocks for Kids Online

Care to find the highest quality small and large EVA foam building blocks for kids? Visit Bright Day Big Blocks for the best block play experience. 

Get soft building blocks for kids in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors for home use, school, playgrounds, theme-based play, and more. 

Bright Day Big Blocks can accept custom block-building games and foam block requests like magnetic blocks, construction toys, hollow blocks, wooden blocks, complex structures/larger structures made of EVA foam, etc. 

Call +1-818-914-6541. Email: contact@brightdaybigblocks.com and see the kids’ toy blocks in action on Instagram and Facebook