All three astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Jim Lovell and Jim Irwin agreed they could not see the Great Wall in China from the moon. But, over 41.8 million foreign visitors to China saw this great structure in 2004.
Tourism to the Great Wall increased because of President Nixon’s visit to China in 1972 and with this increase in tourism sections of the Wall were restored. The Chinese government recognized the Wall as a unifying symbol of their nation after the death of Mao Zedong.
The men who designed this wall once were kids themselves and I wonder if they had building block toys to play with. You may have a future engineer in your family right now. Someday he/she may design and build a new wonder of the world. Help his/her creativity bloom with cardboard building blocks. The set pictured has both construction cinder blocks and timber blocks. Schools can order bulk quantity building block toys.
Promoting open-ended play time for your children with building block toys will be one of the best ways to enhance their learning and increase their fine motor skills.
There is a legend, that a helpful dragon traced out the course of the Great Wall for the workforce and the builders subsequently followed the tracks of the dragon ( Jan, Michael. 2001. The Great Wall of China. New York, NY: Abberville Publishing Group) but more likely is the fact that it was probably men who were once children playing with blocks.
The Great Wall has often been compared to a dragon. In China, the dragon is a protective divinity and is synonymous with springtime and vital energy. The Chinese believed the earth was filled with dragons which gave shape to the mountains and formed the sinew of the land.
During the Ming dynasty, nearly one million soldiers were said to defend the Great Wall from “barbarians” and non-Chinese.
The manpower to build the Great Wall came from frontier guards, peasants, unemployed intellectuals, disgraced noblemen, and convicts. In fact, there existed a special penalty during the Qin and Han dynasties under which convicted criminals were made to work on the Wall.
Before the Ming dynasty, the wall was built with rammed earth, adobe, and stone. About 70% is made from rammed earth and adobe. Bricks were used after the Ming dynasty.
The Chinese invented the wheelbarrow and used it extensively in building the Great Wall.
A section of the Great Wall in the Gansu province may disappear in the next 20 years due to erosion.
The information for this article came from: http://facts.randomhistory.com/2009/04/18_great-wall.html. See this website for more information and read their Reference section for the books where these facts came from.
Because of the continuing decline in literacy rates some educators are suggesting parents begin teaching their children to read at an early age. But, not all children are ready at the same age.
In past years it was thought that children should probably begin learning to read at about six years of age. But this opinion is being re-thought and educators are thinking that if a child starts to learn to read at an earlier age they may learn to read better.
There is a wide diversity in each child’s individual learning speeds and styles. A child’s interests and temperament also play a major role in helping parents decide when it is best to begin teaching their child to read.
It is important that children see their parents reading; it is also important to read to your child every day. By doing so parents will learn if their child is intrigued by the new ideas in the stories that are read to them. Parents need to pay attention to learn if their child exhibits a genuine interest in the stories they are reading.
If you find your child is showing interest in the stories and the new ideas then he/she is probably ready to begin learning to read. It is a fact that some four year olds can’t wait to begin reading, yet other children as old as eight are not developmentally ready.
Each child is unique and spending time with him/her will help a parent know how to proceed. Even before you introduce a book to your child there is a toddler learning toy, Little Reader Blocks, that your child can play with – and during play, begin to recognize the first 100 basic sight words. These toy blocks are available on our website, All I Can Imagine.
You will get the following 3″cube cardboard building blocks:
3 green noun blocks (18 nouns)
5 blue verb blocks (30 verbs)
5 red pronoun blocks (30 pronouns)
3 yellow adjective blocks (18 adjectives)
2 white preposition blocks (12 prepositions)
If you are a teacher or run a day care center and order three or more sets let us know you read about the Little Reader Blocks on our Blog and you will receive a discounted price.
You will provide your children a world of fun learning and creative building opportunities when you give them giant toy blocks. Children learn through play and blocks are one of the best toddler learning toys on the market.
When children reach for, pick up, stack, or fit blocks together, they build strength in their fingers and hands, and increase eye-hand coordination. Around two, children begin to figure out which shapes will fit where, and get a head start on understanding different perspectives — skills that will help them to read maps and follow directions later on.
Cardboard building blocks help kindergarten and primary grade children develop skills in design, representation, balance and stability.
ImagiBRICKS™ are the award winning toy blocks your parents used to play with and are available in various quantities. You can get a set as small as 16 pieces in all red, 40 pieces in three colors and sizes all the way up to bullk quantity blocks. See all our other sets at All I Can Imagine.
Our toddler learning toys come with a drool-proof coating and are crush-proof.
One thing toddlers love to do is jump. To keep them off the furniture you could place large pillows on your floor; or, if you have an old mattress that is even better.
Go for walks on different types of surfaces. Walking on grass, gravel, or sand and uneven surfaces will not only challenge their balance it will help muscles develop.
If you have stairs let them practice climbing up and down when you are watching and standing close by. If you do not have stairs it is a good idea to have a set of giant cardboard building blocks called ImagiBRICKS.
These toy blocks can be stood on without crushing. You can place them around the room in a maze like formation and have your children walk around them as well as step up on top of them. They will learn to balance, step up and down and use a variety of muscles while having a great time playing.
Of course, as with any set of building blocks they will stack them up and knock them down. They will carry them around and put them in wagons. All this play is open-ended and will allow for many hours of creative play to help build confidence and self-esteem.
You will be providing your toddlers and young children with one of the best toddler learning toys on the market when you provide them with a set of ImagiBRICKS.
When you have a toddler or other young children in your home you want to make sure their toys are safe. You also want toys that are easy to clean and keep sanitary.
ImagiBRICKS are sturdy, and are coated with a nontoxic coating so they can be wiped down without damaging the toy blocks. When you purchase cardboard building blocks for your children there will be no sharp points or edges; an important consideration when choosing your toddler’s toys.
A learning toy such as building blocks toys encourages creative, open-ended play. Children will play by themselves as well as in a group. Children of various ages can plan, create and build structures of varying degrees of difficulty and learn to work together for hours of learning fun.
Giant sized blocks such as ImagiBRICKS are safe toy blocks because they are too large to get swallowed if there are younger children in the home. Children tend to like to stand on their giant blocks and these blocks are guaranteed crush proof. There are images of me standing on the blocks on our website.
Another reason cardboard building blocks are a perfect toddler learning toy is that they are lightweight and can easily be carried about and can be stacked as high as a toddler can reach. When the blocks fall or get knocked down (as they most assuredly will) there are no sharp edges to hurt your children.
Children will gain muscle strength while playing with their blocks and as they build structures they will learn coordination as they learn to walk around their structures and not knock them down.
There are no better toys for toddlers as ImagiBRICKS, the toys your grandparents played with.
Providing your children arts and crafts time is not only a great “quiet time” play idea it will help your children develop fine motor skills. Crafts that include the use of scissors, beads, crayons, finger paints or anything else you can think of to get their fingers involved will benefit your children.
An old time favorite from the 1950’s is Silly Putty ® and is a great quiet-time activity to help your children with his fine motor skills. James Wright, a GE engineer, came upon the material by mixing silicone oil with boric acid. The compound, acted very much like rubber in its ability to rebound almost 25 percent higher than a normal rubber ball. My favorite memory of playing with Silly Putty was pressing it onto the Sunday comic’s page and making an imprint.
Did you know that Silly Putty sold faster than any other toy in history with over $6 million in sales for the year? Silly Putty is now the registered trademark of Binney & Smith Inc.
Besides encouraging craft activities for your children you can also provide other activities such as building toys such as Legos, Tinker Toys and cardboard building blocks
. These toys are manipulativies and will enhance fine motor skills just the same as coloring, painting and cutting.
Toy blocks such as ImagiBRICKS are giant sized cardboard blocks and are available in sets as small as 16 pieces. Three sizes of blocks are available in the 24 and 40 piece set or you may get a bulk quantity order when you have several children who will be playing together.
Cardboard toy blocks are made in the USA by Smart Monkey Toys. This toy company only uses recycled corrugated cardboard.
Their trade name for these toy blocks is ImagiBRICKS and all these giant building blocks are made of at least 50% recycled cardboard. The actual amount varies with each run, but is never less than 50%. The trees used for the remainder are all farmed.
The wonderful thing about corrugated cardboard is that it is strong, yet very lightweight, making it a wonderful choice for preschool play. The cardboard is printed with water-based, non-toxic colorful inks. And an additional clear ink coating to each block to make it water-resistant. The cardboard building blocks are also recyclable. Every component of the block sets are made right here in America. They are produced in Wisconsin, where there is a large paper industry.
Smart Monkey Toy’s warehouse is near the plant where the blocks are produced. By keeping everything close, this toy company cuts down on the fuel needed to transport materials and providing much needed jobs to American workers.
The paper industry in our country has been struggling with many companies buying their cardboard from China. China has to import their raw materials from the U.S. or Canada to make their cardboard. The lumber is transported from North American to China, made into cardboard and then transported back to North America. The cost of this inefficient process is lost jobs, and much greater use of valuable fuel.
Your child will love games played at their level, on the floor. You and your toddler will have plenty of laughs when you get down on the floor and play with them.
With or without “props” you can laugh yourself silly and kids of all ages can participate. Play peek-a-boo by crawling around furniture (watch the sharp edges of tables, please). You could set up pillows and cushions around the room and have races around the objects.
Have a make believe zoo and each person is a different animal. Talk about the animals and how they might relate to one another. Before you plan this you could do online research and get some simple facts about several animals; find some that do well together and maybe some who can not co-exist.
Bring out your son’s trucks, earth moving equipment trucks, police cars and fire trucks and make up some games. If you have large toy blocks such as ImagiBRICKS cardboard building blocks you can “build” garages, police stations, fire stations and such.
Giant building blocks are also good for crawling around while playing peek-a-boo. Weaving in and out of a maze of blocks helps children learn balance – they aren’t supposed to knock the blocks down while maneuvering around each set of blocks.
Wind down the fun by playing something quieter such as putting puzzles together or coloring. Maybe you will all fall asleep for a little nap right there on the floor. Just grab one of the pillows and snuggle up with your toddler.
I remember that it was my birthday and I had just received my birthday present from my grandparents. I was so excited that I had to open that one first. I opened the box as fast as I could and saw just flat red and white cardboard.
I told my mom that I didn’t like my present. She got down on her knees and said to me that all it needed was to be put together. At my age, I wasn’t very happy if I couldn’t play with a toy right then. My mom and sister sat down and put all of the toy blocks together for me.
It took what seemed like forever, but when all the cardboard building blocks were put together, I ended up having a blast with them. I got to make my own chair out of them. The chair was more like a stool, but at that age I didn’t care. I could even sit in it with out breaking the blocks or even bending them.
I thought that was so cool at the age of six. I could play with the blocks for hours. I think my grandparent got me the 36 piece set of these blocks, but you can also get them in a 16 piece or a 24 piece set.
Yes, parents and educators and preschool’s can still purchase these amazing kids learning toys. Manufactured in Wisconsin by Smart Monkey Toys there are sets of 16, 24 and 40 and bulk quantity cardboard blocks are also available. Also available are City Blocks sets and Castle Blocks sets, Timber Blocks as well as Construction Blocks.
Unit blocks may not be as sophisticated as some toys we find in stores or on TV commercials, but they are ideal for learning because they involve the child as a whole — the way she moves her muscles, the way she discovers how different objects feel in her hands, the way she thinks about spaces and shapes, and the way she develops thoughts and interests of her own.
Unit blocks vary in name and material by manufacturer, but they are all based on the proportions 1:2:4. These blocks must be sturdy and accurately cut so that children of all different ages and levels of learning may use them to create, solve problems, and challenge themselves.
Giant cardboard blocks may be given to children at an early age. They will begin by moving them around from place to place. From there they will move to stacking and then building structures.
Building blocks toys are one of the most important educational kids toys you will provide your children and they should have as many as you can comfortably afford and have room for. Children of all ages will play, create and build together and you will see many of their social developments occur.