I love this activity because every time we do it, I see a noticeable improvement in my toddler’s fine motor skills. We just pull out our toy blocks and build a bunch of garages. He will happily spend 20 minutes (a lifetime for a spirited toddler) driving his toy cars around the structures and parking them in the garages.
From a toddler’s perspective, it is much harder than it sounds. The blocks aren’t very big, so the garages leave little room for error. Since the blocks don’t interlock, it is surprisingly easy to knock them down. My son has to be very careful as he maneuvers the cars around and into the buildings. Inevitably, he will accidentally (or purposefully) knock one down. Then, we just get to build another one. He loves the multi-level garages the best, and the taller the building the better.
<< My spirited toddler, Edison, happily parking toy cars in his wooden block garages
Building wooden block garages is also a good creative arts activity. On more than one occasion, he has removed blocks from one of my garages and replaced it with others. It is interesting to see what he considers ascetically pleasing. Sometimes, he will place a block somewhere. Then, he will look at it thoughtfully and move it a fraction of an inch for no particular reason. It’s actually pretty cool to watch. Right now, he is pickier about shapes than he is about colors, but I am sure that will change at some point.
2011-06-07