Toy Blocks
Blocks the universal toy that are a treasure in the simple lines of design that can be discovered by all ages and cultures. I was surprised to find that, according to Wiki, the first historic mention of blocks was not until 1693 by English philosopher John Locke, I would have thought blocks would have be part of the early Greek children or Egyptian children with the architecture of the time.
In 1798 they were used to teach children about gravity, spatial relationships and physics and were listed as “rational toys” for educators. In 1820 the first large scale manufacturing of blocks began in Brooklyn with a raised embossed picture block that was colored. Current USA manufacturer Uncle Goose makes a similar ABC Block that you can paint thou the ABC block did not appear until 1850.
The simple cube block has expanded over time in creative concepts such as the Uncle Goose Stack and Scare blocks that you can create a whole village of conceptual monsters for your desk!
The a new version of the simple block can be found in stacking blocks that there seems to be quite a few versions. Art Of Toy has stacking robots, stacking ballerinas, stacking bones and Patera to list a few.
The simplicity of blocks can help develop motor skills for children, encourages social interaction while stacking and of course knocking the stack down and encourage intellectual stimulation in general. In 2003 the Strong Museum inducted ABC blocks into their collection, granting it the title of one of America’s toys of national significance.
In this era of high tech electronic toys can we fit in the simple pleasure of a well-designed block structure? What is your favorite stacking or knocking over?
