Playing With Blocks

Blocks are such a simple toy. But doesn't it always seem like the simplest things are able to entertain your baby more than any number of flashy, noisy, blinky, battery-eating toys can anyway?

Stacking blocks is great for motor development. Your baby will slowly learn how to manipulate objects with his or her hands. Stacking blocks on top of one another will teach your baby how to be careful and deliberate.

But not only should you encourage your baby to stack the blocks on top of one another; you should show your baby how much fun it can be to knock down a tower, too! This will make it less discouraging for your baby if she is trying to build a tower, but it keeps falling over. She may even stack blocks more eagerly simply for the sake of being able to knock them down!

Try to see what else your toddler can come up with to do with the blocks. Adrianne loved taking a block in each hand and smacking them together to make a nice rhythm.

She also likes to dump out her box of blocks so that she can put them all back in the box. Don't discourage your baby from doing things like this, even if it just seems like making a mess to you. Your baby is learning and growing with every action. Let your baby experiment! After all, babies are the world's greatest scientists, always testing, observing, and discovering.