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Toy blocks (and other construction toys):

A guide for the science-minded parent

© 2008 Gwen Dewar, all rights reserved

They might not be as flashy as the battery-powered robots and electronic games. By toy blocks-—and other construction toys-—are among the best developmental toys that money can buy.

A set of blocks can help your child develop

• motor skills and hand-eye coordination

• spatial skills

• creative problem-solving skills, and

• language skills.

Moreover, kids can integrate their own constructions into pretend play scenarios. And there is evidence that complex block-play is linked with advanced math skills in later life.

Here I review the cognitive benefits of playing with toy blocks. I also offer tips for making block-play more stimulating and rewarding.

For other tips about honing your child's intellectual skills, see these articles on intelligence in children.

Toy blocks promote spatial skills

In one experimental study, researchers administered the spatial skills subtest of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) to a group of preschoolers. Next, researchers presented kids with blocks and tinker toys.

Kids in the treatment group got training in how to use these toys and were encouraged to build. After 6 weeks, kids were tested again. Preschoolers in the treatment group showed significant improvement. Those in the control group showed no change (Sprafkin et al 1983).

Another study (Caldera et al 1999) has reported that preschoolers who scored better on the spatial skills subtest of the WPPSI

• showed more interest in block play, and

• were more skillful at reproducing complex block models.

Toy blocks and math skills

Block play is linked with better math skills, too. A longitudinal study tracked kids from preschool to high school (Wolfgang et al 2001). Researchers found that 4-years who played with blocks in more complex ways were more likely to achieve high math scores in high school.

We might reasonably assume that the link is caused by higher IQs—-i.e., that smarter preschoolers are both more likely to engage in complex block play and more likely to achieve in high school math classes. But researchers found that the association remained significant even after they controlled for a child’s IQ.

Toy blocks and creative, divergent problem-solving

Psychologists recognize two major types of problem. Convergent problems have only one correct solution. Divergent problems can be solved in multiple ways.

Because kids can put together blocks in a variety of ways, block play is divergent play. And divergent play with blocks may prepare kids to think creatively and better solve divergent problems.

In one experiment, researchers presented preschoolers with two types of play materials (Pepler and Ross 1981).

• Some kids got materials for convergent play (puzzle pieces).

• Other kids were given toy blocks—materials for divergent play.

• Kids were given time to play and then were tested on their ability to solve problems.

The results? The kids who played with blocks performed better on divergent problems. They also showed more creativity in their attempts to solve the problems (Pepler and Ross 1981).

Toy blocks: Do they promote language development?

Maybe so.

One experimental study gave blocks to middle- and low-income toddlers, aged 1.5 to 2.5 years, and tracked them over six months (Christakis et al 2007).

• The treatment group was given two sets of toy blocks—-80 plastic interlocking blocks and a set of specialty blocks, including cars and people--at the beginning of the study. The parents of these toddlers were given instructions for encouraging block play.

• The control group was not given blocks until the end of the study. The parents of these kids received no instructions about block play.

• Parents in both groups were asked to keep time diaries of their children’s activities. Parents weren’t told the real purpose of the study—only that their kids were part of a study of child time use.

After six months, toddlers in both groups were given several different tests of verbal ability (the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories).

The results?

Kids in the block group

• scored higher on tests of vocabulary, grammar, and verbal comprehension, and

• showed a non-significant trend towards watching less TV

It’s not clear why block play had this effect. It could be that kids who spent more time playing with blocks also had more opportunities to interact with their parents.

Alternatively, block-play itself might help kids develop skills important for language development--like the ability to plan and recognize cause-and-effect sequences.

Tips: Getting the most from your toy blocks

• Get down on the floor and play with your child. The research above suggests that kids get more from block play when someone demonstrates how to build with them.

• Challenge kids with specific building tasks. To get things started, suggest a type of structure to build. And if you just got a new set of blocks—-don’t throw out the packaging. You can use pictures and diagrams to inspire or guide a construction project.

• Stimulate pretend play with character toys and other accessories. The experiment on language skills involved giving kids blocks AND appropriately-scaled accessory toys, like people and cars. Such toys give kids ideas for construction projects (e.g., a barn for a toy cow) and encourage pretend play.

• Combine block play with story-time. Researcher Janie Heisner used toy blocks and block- accessories to illustrate parts of the stories she read to kids in a preschool (Heisner 2005). After each story, the kids were given access to the props. This tactic seemed to increase pretend play. It also gave kids ideas for things to build.

References

Caldera YM, Culp AM, O'Brien M, Truglio RT, Alvarez M, and Huston AC. 1999. Children's Play Preferences, Construction Play with Blocks, and Visual-spatial Skills: Are they Related? International Journal of Behavioral Development; 23 (4): 855-872.

Christakis DA, Zimmerman FJ, and Garrison MM. 2007. Effect of block play on language acquisition and attention in toddlers: a pilot randomized controlled trial. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 161(10):967-71.

Heisner J. 2005. Telling Stories with Blocks: Encouraging Language in the Block Center Early Childhood Research and Practice 7(2).

Pepler DJ and Ross HS. 1981. The effects of play on convergent and divergent problem solving. Child Development 52(4): 1202-1210.

Sprafkin C, Serbin LA, Denier C and Connor JM. 1983. Sex-differentiated play: Cognitive consequences and early interventions. In MB Liss (ed), Social and cognitive skills: Sex roles and child’s play. New York: Academic Press.

Wolfgang, Charles H.; Stannard, Laura L.; & Jones, Ithel. (2001). Block play performance among preschoolers as a predictor of later school achievement in mathematics. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 15(2), 173-180.