The benefits of Learning with Lego and Blocks for child development are endless. They make learning and play the perfect combination for kids to get hands-on interaction while making sure their brain is also doing work.
Benefits of Learning with Legos and Blocks For Child Development
As a mom of two young girls and former elementary education teacher, I’ve used both Legos and blocks in many lessons. Not only do these items benefit the child’s imagination, but also fine motor skills in preschoolers and young children. Being able to grasp these items and move them around allows the child to develop the skills needed later in life.
When Did Lego Come Around?
The classic LEGO brick was designed by a Danish carpenter named Ole Kirk Christiansen in the 1940s. Since then the Lego brand has been very well known in family homes. Nowadays Legos and Blocks are popular among both girls and boys, especially with all the different colors, styles, and theme designs.
I wonder if Ole Kirk Christiansen every thought that the LEGO brick would be in the majority of families home now?
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We all know that kids love playing with blocks and legos, but did you know that there are so many different benefits for kids to do so? Just think of these developmental skills your kids are acquiring next time you step on those tiny blocks in the middle of the night.
How Do Lego and Blocks Help Child Development
At a young age, children need to be given the opportunity to develop their fine motor skills and building gives them that option through play. Using their small hands and finger muscles children are able to manipulate Legos and blocks to coordinate towers.
I know many parents who are not a fan of Legos or Blocks, honestly, I can’t blame them! Have you ever stepped on one? OUCH!! But what better way to allow your child to develop a skill by allowing them to play?
It takes a lot of muscle and strength to put some of these pieces together. The older your child gets, the smaller the pieces. Becoming more of a challenge for their small fingers and hands to manipulate.
- fine-motor skills
- hands and finger muscle strenghtening
- hand and eye coordination
- will help with using a pencil and scissors later on
How Do Lego and Blocks Help With Problem-Solving Skills and Creativity
There are so many different Lego and block styles, themes, and sizes that children have the opportunity to use their problem-solving skills to build. My girls have several Lego and block containers with different themes. I love how they mix and match sets to create designs. Sometimes they realize that a Block will not fit on a Lego or the other way around.
Being able to think using a trial and error method helps them to figure out which pieces go together. Creating architectures they have thought up in their minds. I can tell when my girls sit down to create something they have already thought about what they want to make! I can see their wheels spinning on ideas and how they are going to pull it all together.
- problem-solving skills
- learning trial and error
- creating towers and imaginative worlds
How To Use Lego and Blocks For Teaching Math Skills
We love using legos blocks during math lessons! It gives a visual of what the child is doing and it’s a great manipulative to use. We have used our Legos and Blocks for counting, learning about length, sizes, colors, patterns, and now fractions. The possibilities of using them in math lessons are endless!
- learning about sizes and weight
- how to measure in length
- colors
- patterns
- adding and subtraction
- teaching fractions
- shapes
Ways Kids Can Learn With Lego And Blocks
There are so many other ways and benefits for children to use Legos and Blocks! Check out some of these amazing ways other parents, teachers, and homeschoolers have taken advantage of learning with legos and blocks.
- Teaching Language Arts With LEGO by Milk & Cookies
- Duplo & Lego Pattern Towers Busy Bag by All Our Days
- Alphabet Lego Cards – Uppercase by Wild Flower Ramblings
- Lego Math by Living, Loving, Learning Naturally
- Lego Math Activities by kids activities Blog
- Lego Activities for Tots by laughing kids learn
- Lego Solar System by Kitchen Counter Chronicles
- Numeracy Activities Using Mega Blocks by And Next Comes L
When you see your child creating, make sure to ask them what they are doing or what they have made! Encouraging and building confidence in what they are doing will only strengthen these skills! Who knows, you might have a future architect in your home.
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If you enjoyed reading about the Benefits of Learning with Legos and Blocks, Child Development you will also love the following learning activities I have put together for you:
What’s your favorite way to incorporate Legos and Blocks into daily lessons?
Great post! My toddler loves to play with mega blocks. Like you said, it’s such a great way to not only work on motor skills, but to also learn about colors, shapes, math, etc.
Pinning 🙂
Thank you so much Yuliya!!
Thanks so much for including my Lego Cards — I just added Lowercase Cards too 🙂 Blessings!
Oh, wonderful!! Yes, I absolutely think your printables are awesome!
Love these ideas! My son is all about legos and if I can’t turn it into learning then I am all about that! Love it thanks!
Thank you Kersandra!
I’m visiting from Weekly Wrapup and even my older kids love Legos! Thanks for sharing. We have a monthly Lego club that meets at our homeschool co-op.
Oh, that must be so much fun Nita! I know my girls would love meeting weekly with friends to build with Lego blocks!
Great post, I really love using Lego blocks in our homeschool lessons.
Yes, they are so much fun Debbie! Thanks for stopping by!
Great post. Legos are quite popular in my house as well with both my girls and my son. The problem my 12 year old son has, though, is that he is so proud of his creations that he hates to take them apart. So his room is covered in war zones and neighborhoods and who knows what else.
Hi Tina, wow that’s amazing! My little girl usually builds, but is pretty good and putting them away later on. Once in a while we have that happen as well, but it doesn’t last very long 😉
Legos and Duplos are great fun for all ages of children! We’ve incorporated Duplos into a tea party math game. They were used as cookies for the stuffed animals. My 4 yo love it. Thank you for the additional ideas.
Oh, we are going to have to try that Sara! Thanks for sharing 🙂
My daughter is just starting to get interested in the smaller Legos. I love the idea of using them for learning through play!
I’m glad my kids love building with legos! Provides so much learning for them!
Me too!
My boys have so much fun with the Legos (little do they know how much they’re learning!). I love your ideas above. As your girls get older, you might want to check out the whole Lego Education series. It’s amazing what all can learned with Legos!!! There’s also this really cool “new-ish” program offered in various locations across the country called Bricks 4 Kidz. They offer various camps, parties, homeschool programs and such centered all around Legos and popular children themes. My boys have not had the chance to attend yet, but several of their friends have and loved it. Thanks so much for sharing all of your great ideas and thoughts!
Luv your ideas and sharing them. Manipulative play engages kids. Its how they learn.
Thank you so much for stopping by Jane 🙂
You made a good point that the act of creating is what makes children stimulate their imagination when playing with blocks. Now that my son is starting to try to grab onto things a lot, I think it’s time for me to shop for more toys for him. I will definitely prioritize buying children’s soft play big blocks for him.