Blocks And 3d Puzzles

It is a well known fact that children who have learned basic math skills do better when they enter school.  Here is one “game” to play with your toddler to give him/her a head start with his math skills.

Using toy blocks you can teach this simple lesson of kindergarten and preschool math measurement. Before you begin with the lessons, however, allow your children to just play with their cardboard building blocks without any rules. Creative play comes easy and you will enjoy watching your child make up his own activities when he is given building block toys.

Then, in a couple of weeks after your child has had a chance to explore the materials, he will be ready to use them in the structured activity that you will introduce to him. Remember that preschool learning toys for children are most often just open ended toys such as toy blocks that are just fun to play with; they do not need to know that they are really educational learning toys.

It’s lesson time!  Get out a hard covered book and three medium blue blocks sized 6 x 3 x 3 (we will show you where to see these blocks later on).  Now, line the toy blocks up against the book and pointing to each one separately count them 1 – 2 – 3.

Tell your child that your book is 3 blocks long. Repeat this visual activity of counting a couple of times.  Point out to your child where the first block is starting and where your last block ended; do not worry that your blocks are not the same exact length of the book. You could add a fourth block either now or in a week or so.

During your demonstration talk to your child about why you need to use identical blocks.  Have your toddler choose a book for himself and have him select identical blocks from his set of blocks and have him try to measure his book.

You can find more teaching measurement projects at: Kindergarten Lessons.com.

This “game” will help your children begin to get used to the idea that objects have different sizes and can be measured.  Go to All I Can Imagine to see a teaching tool to use for this and other math lessons.

For one reason or another many people don’t think that teaching toddlers manners is that important. However, if you want to raise a well-mannered child then you must start when they are little. This is because toddlers learn things so easily. In fact, many of the things toddlers learn will naturally become automatic as they get older, which is precisely what you want when teaching good manners!

Children who have open-ended toys to play with, such as toy blocks, will have many opportunities for creative play as well as building social skills and manners.  Giant cardboard building blocks are exceptional educational kids toys for preschool children.

While parents monitor their children’s play time you can observe how the children interact and react to one another’s suggestions of creating structures and playing games with the toy blocks.  When necessary you can gently guide them in their manners and ability and willingness to share and cooperate with one another.

Building block toys can easily be stored up against a wall in your child’s room or your playroom.  Remember to keep the out in sight because children will gravitate to these large building blocks whether they are playing by themselves or when company comes.

The more children you have the more blocks toys you will need.  ImagiBRICKS have a drool proof coating and it is important to often wipe them down to prevent cold germs from spreading. 

Available online at  All I Can Imagine in starter sets of 16 large red blocks, 24 pc sets, or 40 pc sets.  Your children will also love our Rainbow blocks which come in red, green, orange and purple. Bulk quantities are also available.

These toddler learning toys are an ideal Christmas gift or birthday present for parents and grandparents to provide their boys and girls.

Children can learn about energy, where it comes from the many ways to conserve energy in their everyday lives.  Children will be inspired to become environmental stewards during Conservation Quest at Imagine It!  The Children’s Museum of Atlanta.

The Home station will allow your kids to explore energy uses and choices from electricity, heating, and lighting to transportation, waste and recycling.  Computer interactive screens will help your children make green energy choices with electricity, appliances, heating and cooling, recycling, transportation and more.

Stacking blocks will be a fun activity your children can participate in to learn about the amount of electricity various appliances use and they will also learn how to reduce electricity use.

Imagine It! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta is a smart place to play and is a non-profit organization that offers a family-friendly space filled with interactive, educational exhibits and programming for children ages eight and under. 

Conservation Quest is a special display and will be open until September 12, 2010.  Visit their website for more information:  www.childrensmuseumatlanta.org.

We do not know what size toy  blocks your children will be stacking at this display but it is a good idea to have a set of giant cardboard building blocks at home for your children to build, stack and carry around.  Large block toys will help your children develop their muscles and help them to play creatively by themselves or with others.  Your kids will love building tall towers and knocking them down, and because these toys are cardboard they will fall quietly.

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.