How do stacking toys help children learn?
No toy box is complete without stacking toys, they are a household staple and you probably played with them as a small child. There are lots of different options when it comes to choosing stacking toys for your child. In this blog, we are going to explore what the benefits are for stacking toys and what we considered when creating our very own stacking toys, and the latest edition to our growing toy family here at Rosa and Bo.
What age should my child play with stacking toys?
Wooden stacking toys are beneficial for children from babyhood to preschool age, since children develop very rapidly in the early years there are different ways they can learn through just this one resource.
When babies play with wooden blocks, they will gather lots of information about things by exploring with their mouths, picking up blocks and curling their fingers around them and passing the blacks from hand to hand. This gives babies lots of sensory information, improves their fine motor skills and their palmer grasp and they cross midline by passing things from one hand to the other.
Toddlers will tend to stand and squat as they are attempting to place stacking objects on the stand, this supports their gross motor skills and improves hand-eye coordination. They will also be using problem-solving skills and developing eye muscles as they seek the different parts of the stacking toy to use.
Preschool children are developing mathematical concepts and are beginning to understand how to order things correctly, and also learning size differences. A stacking toy is a very useful tool to support thios learning, as the different coloured blocks, like in our Rosa and Bo stackers, help children to learn a patten and it also makes it easier to spot when things aren’t in the right order.
We would always recommend purchasing toys that are good quality so that they can last your child as long as possible, helping your pocket and the environment. This was one of the key drivers in deciding to make our stacking toy wooden when we created them, you can read more about our story, and what’s behind our brand here.
What are the benefits of stacking toys?
There are many, many benefits when it comes to stacking toys. Let’s explore my top three:
- Wooden stacking toys are an excellent way to teach your child about sequencing with a number of topics that can be learnt about; from colours, shades, size and shape and extending this further by numbering and letters of the alphabet.
- Stacking toys help children to learn about the process of things that have a beginning middle and an end and it also supports teaching the concept of goal setting. Here at Rosa and Bo, we have sought to extend this further by making our stacking toys into our beloved characters Rosa and Bo Bunny. Children will be able to stack the coloured blocks and finish with the head of Rosa or Bo Bunny, which helps children to realise that the task has finished.
-
Stacking toys develop children’s language; from talking about the language of size, colour, shape, and texture, to introducing questions to foster curiosity (which is such an important skill to teach) such as ‘’I wonder what will happen if…’’ a stacking toy is a wonderful way to introduce many concepts to your young child.
If you have any questions about how you can support your child’s development with a stacking toy or are looking for new ways to play, just drop us an email or message on our Instagram account as we would love to hear from you!
This blog has been written by our Resident Play Expert here at Rosa & Bo, Sarah Doman. Sarah is a Hypnobirth and Early Years Expert. She helps families from pregnancy to children of school age to give birth and parent with confidence. You can find her on social media @_sarahdoman_.
