Home » Education » Free play with pattern blocks

Free play with pattern blocks

20090821_0746I have blogged about my children’s enjoyment of pattern block templates before, but they get at least as much enjoyment out of pattern block free play. I love the thicker wooden pattern blocks for this activity since they allow for the building of towers and other 3D structures.

Pattern block templates are fun to do and allow children to learn about things like one-to-one correspondence and shape recognition, but there are at least as many lessons to be learned (and as much fun to be had) through free play. Free play provides excellent opportunities for learning about fractions (Emma has figured out that three blue diamonds equal one yellow hexagon), pattern exploration, shape recognition, textures, colors, and how different pieces fit together. Building towers (as Johnny is doing in this picture with the square pieces) teaches about balance and builds coordination.

If you are looking for more pattern block templates, check out my previous pattern block post!

MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.

13 thoughts on “Free play with pattern blocks”

  1. We have some pattern blocks that I got from a charity shop but sunnyboy hasn't tried them out yet. I think he would like them, so thanks for reminding me to get them out for him!

  2. Raising a Happy Child

    We just got pattern blocks for Anna as a present, and I can't wait to try them out. I didn't do it yet, because she got so many new toys during our vacations, but I hope she will like it as much as Emma does.

  3. @Nadia – I think the official start age is 3 or 4 because the pieces can be small. I let my kids start playing with them once they stop putting things in their mouth (I still supervise, of course, because of the small pieces). Johnny is 20 months old, and he loves playing with them. He can do simple templates and he enjoys building simple designs and towers with them too.

    You can buy larger foam sets that I imagine would work for any age group; we just don't have them…

  4. Nadia@FunWithMama

    i cant wait to try pattern blocks with my son. From what age did you start using them?? they seem so interesting and fun!

  5. I'm really dumb, and just now figured out how to follow a blog that doesn't have it on the sidebar!

  6. Infant Bibliophile

    Those look really neat. But more importantly, how are you managing to blog, and comment on other blogs, while mothering three kids, one of which is less than a month old?! You are a super mom. (PS Kevin has just started raising things to his mouth, which he NEVER did, just to get my attention. He does it deliberately when he's bored or wants me to stop doing something. So frustrating!).

  7. @Quadmama – I definitely recommend pattern blocks, if you don't already own some!

    @Valerie – I was SO happy when Johnny stopped putting everything in his mouth so that we didn't have to wait until nap time to pull these out. Of course, in a few months Lily will be stuffing everything in HER mouth, so it'll have to be retired to "nap time only" for a few more months…

    @Jenny – I love pattern blocks too! Actually, a couple of my friends tease me because I tend to purchase toys for my kids based on what I want to play with…

  8. Valerie @ Frugal Family Fun Blog

    So much fun! I was eyeing up one of these sets the last time I was at the toy store. When Clara is just a bit bigger and doesn't put little things in her mouth anymore, I am soooo springing for one of these!

  9. We must be on the same "play wave length" right now. I'm sitting here watching Hubby build block houses with the girls and we just mentioned that we need to branch out on our block collection.

Comments are closed.

Scroll to Top