What toddler doesn’t like getting their hands on a brightly coloured set of blocks! And how fun does this set from Jaques of London look? Effie was sent these wooden discovery blocks from Jaques of London (back when she was a bit younger now) and she has honestly spent hours playing with them. Granted some of the time all she wants to do is throw them about, but she also enjoys stacking them, rattling them, looking in the mirror section and rolling the round ones. Plus now she is older she names the colours and fruit on them when she plays.
Personally I’m also really impressed with the quality of these discovery blocks. They have already taken a beating, having been thrown off Effie’s highchair numerous times, and they are still in perfect condition, no chipped paint or dented blocks. Considering little ones can be fairly heavy handed I think its important for toys to be durable and these have already shown that they are.
Keep reading for more info about the blocks and some info on the benefits of wooden blocks and why you need to get a wooden block set for your little ones
We were sent this toy for review but all thought and opinions are my own
Jaques of London Discovery Blocks For Babies and Toddlers
These bright and colourful blocks come as a set of 12 in their own little display tray. This set is manufactured using 100% FSC approved wood. The bright colours are created using water-based paint for hours of safe play which is perfect when you have little ones who may still be putting toys in their mouth.
The blocks have varying shapes; round, square and rectangular, to allow for hand exploration and more critical and logical thinking when it comes to stacking and building. 4 are painted with fruit drawings on the top, 4 with patterns, 2 large blocks with moving balls, 1 large block with reflective gems and 1 block with a mirror. The differing appearance of the blocks allow them to capture childrens attention and provide an engaging play experience.
Use all of the blocks together to calm and soothe your child as well as utilising their sense of sight, sound, and touch. There are proven scientific studies which advocate the use of sensory toys. Sensory play helps cognitive development, develops motor skills, encourages problem solving, stimulates the senses and provides plenty of opportunity for investigation, exploration, creativity and play.
The Benefits of Wooden Blocks for Toddlers
I am always a fan of toys that allow for open ended play and the chance for little ones to learn whilst playing. Luckily most toys made for toddlers have the ability to allow learning in some form or another. And building blocks are especially great as they have lots and lots of learning possibilities and can last over a wide age range.
So here are a few of the great reasons you should get your little ones a set of wooden building blocks. And more specifically the benefits of this sensory block set from Jaques of London.
- Improving Fine Motor Skills – grasping and gripping the blocks, moving them and placing them onto of each other all helps to develop their hand strength and grasping reflex
- Spacial Awareness – Being able to place blocks on top of each other or next to each other helps develop their spacial awareness and understanding of distances
- Improving Hand Eye Coordination – A hugely important development milestone and skill babies need to learn, how their hands and eyes work with each other, this pairs with spacial awareness and understanding object position and distancing
- Language Development – Discussing what they are building, the different shapes, colours and fruit on the blocks allows for a huge range of conversations, and new words to add to their vocabulary
- Critical Thinking and Reasoning – Working out which blocks can be balanced, or used to fill certain spaces
- Problem Solving – Working out how to place blocks together, how the blocks interact and what is needed to build certain structures all help to expand their problem solving skills
- Allow creativity – building structures or making patterns using colours helps develop their creativity and also their imagination.
NOTE: Although natural coloured ones are more aesthetically pleasing (come on most parents hate garish brightly coloured toys, haha!) the brightly coloured ones are more eye catching and tempting to little hands and they allow for conversations around colours and colour recognition and matching!
IF YOU LIKE THIS POST CHECK OUT SOME OF OUR OTHER TOY REVIEWS
- Jaques London Safari Animal Shape Sorter Toy Review
- Jaques London Magnetic Reward Chart Review
- Geomag Supercolour Magnetic Construction Toy Review
- The Best Soft Dolls for Babies – Haba Snug-Up Dolls Review
- Wooden Four in a Row Game Review with Jaques of London
Ways your toddler can play with their wooden building blocks
- Build the biggest tower they can by balancing the blocks on top of each other
- Use blocks to build a castle or building
- Pair the blocks by colour or shape
- Line the wooden blocks up by size
- See what animal shapes they can make
- Count the blocks or group them into numbers
- Use them to measure other toys
The possibilities are here and children will always use the imaginations to come up with even more ways to play with open ended toys like wooden blocks. Check out this post for 30 more ways to play with blocks.
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