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Healthy Cities

Benefits of building blocks for toddlers

Healthy Cities: restored archive of the Making Cities Liveable conference series and the later Healthy Cities blog.

Benefits of building blocks for toddlers

Introduction

Building blocks are a great tool for young children to learn during the important stages of their development. Learning how these blocks can be used to build different shapes, patterns and designs is a wonderful way for children to learn, grow and interact with others in the world around them. The following are some benefits to look for building blocks for toddlers;

 

1) Improves gross and fine motor skills

With no limits while creating designs and patterns, children will have fun playing with other people’s creations. They will improve their ability to use their muscles to pick up small objects, and will also gain a better understanding of cause and effect when their plan does not work out as expected.

 

2) Encourages creativity

Children love to create and build things. This is one of the greatest innovations that has affected the way we play and learn today. Building blocks encourage the spirit of creativity in children. With no limits, children can create anything they want as long as their imagination is expansive enough for it.

3) Allows for group play and will benefit social development

Children learn to get along with each other and share when playing with building blocks. They will also develop their communication skills when trying to explain what they want to others and discuss ideas during group play.

 

4) Provides great learning opportunities

Even though it always gets thrown out in the end to make room for a new creation, children will learn to plan their endeavours. They will practice counting as they select the blocks they need for each creation. This can also include learning about shapes and colours, depending on the type of blocks being used.

 

5) Interaction with parents and caregivers

Playing with building blocks is a wonderful way for children to bond with their parents. It allows parents to spend quality time with their children while learning and playing. Building blocks are useful for caregivers and children in simplifying daily tasks. Caregivers can help the child build the structure by providing guidance, ideas and support during the play.

 

Conclusion

Building blocks are a very useful tool for children to learn and grow from an early age. The benefits of building blocks include improving motor skills, sparking creativity, facilitating social development, providing learning opportunities as well as interaction with parents and caregivers.

The archive at a glance
10conference editions, 2008–2017
1,472pages restored from the archive
120+later blog articles preserved
3eras of the site in one place
About the archive

Healthy Cities & Making Cities Liveable

From 2008 to 2017 this site was the online home of the Healthy Cities and Making Cities Liveable conferences — a decade of programs, keynote speakers, venues and abstracts on healthier, more liveable urban places.

In later years the site continued as a blog covering health, homes and everyday city living. This restoration preserves all of it — the conference pages, the articles and the photos — as a static archive you can browse and search.

A Making Cities Liveable conference session in progress

Explore the Healthy Cities conference archive

Browse the programs, speakers and venues of ten conference editions, or search the restored articles — questions about the archive are welcome.