Building sets and blocks are essential educational tools that offer a range of cognitive, physical, and social-emotional benefits for children. As a versatile open-ended toy with endless possibilities, building blocks boost creativity, problem-solving, coordination, and other key developmental skills. This beginner’s guide provides an overview of building sets and blocks, their educational value, and how they can be incorporated into teaching and learning.
What Are Building Sets & Blocks?
Building sets, blocks, and construction toys refer to open-ended play materials made up of interlocking pieces that can be assembled in countless ways. They include classic wooden unit blocks, plastic bricks, magnetic tiles, foam building blocks, and more advanced kits focused on architecture, engineering, or specific interests like LEGO.
Popular Building Sets & Blocks:
- Wooden unit blocks
- LEGO
- Duplo
- Mega Bloks
- Magna-Tiles
- Construx
- Polydron
These building sets allow children to create, build, arrange, rearrange, test, modify, destroy and rebuild anything they can imagine. The open-ended and reusable nature makes them ideal educational toys.
Benefits of Building Sets in Early Childhood Education
Building sets present endless possibilities for fostering learning and development from toddlers to upper elementary. Key benefits include:
Cognitive Skills
- Spatial awareness – visualization, rotation, spatial relationships
- Mathematics – counting, sorting, patterns, fractions
- Problem-solving – planning, modifying, critical thinking
- General knowledge – concepts like balance, gravity, geometry
Physical Abilities
- Fine motor skills
- Hand-eye coordination
- Manual dexterity
Social-Emotional Growth
- Communication and collaboration
- Creativity, self-expression, storytelling
- Development of language and vocabulary
- Confidence and sense of achievement
Structured building sets introduce STEM and architecture concepts, while open-ended blocks allow kids to build freely based on their stage of development. Teachers incorporate building blocks across preschool and elementary curriculums to enhance learning.
Types of Building Blocks
There is an incredible variety of building sets and blocks designed for different ages and skill levels.
Preschool Building Blocks
- Unit Blocks – Classic wooden blocks in geometric shapes
- Duplo – LEGO bricks with larger pieces for little hands
- Foam blocks – Soft, light blocks in bright colors
- Cardboard bricks
School Age Building Kits
- LEGO – Most popular interlocking plastic brick system
- Magna-Tiles – Colorful magnetic tiles
- Construx – Plastic pegs and beams snap together
- Plus-Plus – Simple, small snap blocks
Advanced Building Sets
- LEGO Technic – Moving parts like gears, axles
- LEGO Architecture – Landmarks like the Willis Tower
- Polydron – Plastic frames link together magnetically
- Qbao – Cubes connect with balls and sockets
- Robotics kits – Programmable models
There are also giant oversized blocks, interlocking blocks, light-up blocks, and more. New materials like foam blocks combine lightness with durability.
Incorporating Building Blocks in Writing & Learning
Much like blocks help children develop foundational structures, they also provide an apt metaphor and technique for improving writing skills. The modular, stepped process mirrors the physical act of constructing buildings.
Building Block Approach to Writing
Just as an architect drafts plans before laying bricks, writers must also systematically plan and organize content before drafting paragraphs.
- Plan – Outline structure and ideas
- Support – Research evidence, facts, quotes
- Organize – Group related ideas into sections
- Write – Flesh out outline into full draft
- Refine – Review, analyze, improve draft
This building block method which emphasizes planning and organizing first results in clearer, more cohesive writing. Educators should promote this structured technique.
Incorporate Blocks in Academic Writing
Raising a tower of blocks requires balance, structural integrity and symmetry. Writers must construct essays, theses and papers on an equally sound foundation by:
- Having solid thesis statements to frame arguments
- Structuring body sections around main supporting points
- Using relevant evidence and counter-arguments to support claims
- Linking sections cohesively so ideas transition naturally
Just as you wouldn’t stack blocks precariously, writers need to cement arguments logically to craft robust prose. Building blocks teach vital engineering principles relevant to writing craft.
Reusability of Building Blocks
Like prefabricated Lego creations, writers make use of reusable chunks of content. Building blocks help organize and categorize standard text components for efficiency.
Types of Reusable Writing Blocks
- Business documents – Reports, briefs, presentations
- Boilerplate sections – Standard legal disclaimer text
- Templates – Proposal framework, cover letter template
- Reference data – Brand style guide info
- Visual elements – Logos, icons, charts
Writers assemble these reusable blocks instead of drafting all content from scratch.
Custom Building Blocks
Microsoft Word, Google Docs and other writing platforms allow you to save reusable chunks of text for quick access while drafting documents. After creating a section:
- Select the desired text
- Click “Save selection to new building block gallery”
- Name and categorize the item
- Insert via the “Building blocks organizer”
Custom building blocks integrate seamlessly, updating automatically if you alter the original snippet. This modular approach to writing enables efficiency.
Conclusion
Building blocks offer limitless possibilities for open-ended play and learning. These deceptively simple sets build vital cognitive faculties like spatial skills, encourage problem solving and creativity, and pave the way for early STEM education. Their flexibility allows children to organically develop at their own pace while exploring interests. Just as blocks stack to form structures, the incremental building block approach reinforces methodical writing and the calculated construction of arguments and narratives. Educators should continue leveraging building sets across domains to nurture children’s growth.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the main types of building blocks?
There are wooden unit blocks, interlocking blocks like LEGO, Duplo, and Mega Bloks, magnetic tiles like Magna-Tiles, Construx which uses pegs and beams, foam blocks, cardboard bricks, and more. Advanced options include materials like Polydron frames, or programmable robotics kits.
What are key benefits of building sets for children?
Building sets promote fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, problem-solving, spatial awareness, mathematics concepts like shapes and fractions, general knowledge about gravity and architecture, creativity, communication skills for collaboration, and confidence.
Does LEGO have educational value?
Yes, LEGO offers documented benefits across skill areas from STEM and engineering to creative problem solving. Structured LEGO kits progressively introduce challenging concepts, while classic LEGO bricks build open-ended creativity and exploration.
How do I foster language development?
Building colorful structures inspires children to describe and tell stories about their creations. Sets can introduce kids to block shape names like arches or pyramids. Having children discuss their process uses positional words like under, behind or next to.
Why are wooden unit blocks still popular?
These classic uniform wooden blocks with simple geometric shapes offer versatility across ages. They stimulate open-ended building not confined to a picture or kit concept. Unit blocks also foster collaborative skills as structures grow larger and balance and gravity gain importance.