BLOCKS!

A small child's job is simply to play.  We all know that they learn through play.  Even though it may not always seem like it, I am generally pretty specific about the toys I choose for Olivia.  I like to have a mix of educational electronic/light up toys (and she does learn from those), toys that encourage imaginative play, and open ended toys that are both educational and encourage thinking skills.  Of course, then there are the toys that help with motor skills.  I suppose to some degree most toys could fall into one of those catagories.  But as all parents know, some are obviously better than others.

Olivia recently received a set of classic blocks.  You know...the kind every kid should have and most preschool rooms stock in abundance.  She likes to call them her shapes. :)

She is loving them!

Her favorite thing to do is build towers....and knock them down. :)

She also likes to point out the colors and shapes.  She even recognized the long triangles as a triangle all on her own.  She talks about squares and rectangles and calls the cylinders "cups".  I thought that was a pretty good association!  Yesterday she brought one of the semicircles over to me and said, "It's a crescent".  Close!

Michael opened them for her the first time and played with them with her.  He suggested using her table as a flat surface and now that's where she wants to play with them every time.  "My shapes at my table!"

Blocks are good for SO many different reasons.  They encourage problem solving, strengthens motor skills, encourage imagination, help with spatials skills and math skills.  They are great for eye-hand coordination, creativity, color/shape recognition, and much more!  We will be getting years of use out of these.

After cleaning most of them up--and she has just as much fun cleaning them up as she does playing with them--- she decided that while she was sitting at her table, it was time for some tea.

I  guess her pastry was a little dry. ;)