August 3rd Family Event and DIY Blocks at Home!

Hey everyone! We're excited to invite you to our next Family Event, held August 3rd, 2013 in Provo, Utah. Any shout outs from those who have been to our events before? They are a blast. Basically we have several play stations set up for parents and their young kids to come and play in. All the activities are easily replicated in the home and are great for boosting a child's development.

We'll have activities for kids 0-8 and a special area for children under 1 year. Who doesn't love to see their baby in these non-toxic biodegradable packing peanuts?

To get you excited for this upcoming event we're going to be doing posts on a few of the activity stations we have regularly at our events and show you how (and why) you should have these kinds of toys in your home. But FIRST! Go and confirm your attendance at the family event by clicking here.  

Do-It-Yourself Blocks or Piggy's Brick Blocks

Supplies:

• Tissue boxes, capri-sun boxes, milk carton boxes, shoe boxes and any other container you think would make a nice big block for your kids. 
• Contact paper or wrapping paper in bright colors. (Contact paper is nice because it has a sticky background. The red/white checker blocks in the picture to the right were covered with contact paper.)
• Tape (of any kind, but for long lasting blocks, get a role of packaging tape)

1. Get a smallish cardboard box.

2. Wrap it in paper. 

3. Tape the paper to the box. 

4. Have your kids decorate them. 

5. Repeat steps 1-4. 

(yes. its that easy)

The picture above was from a family event that we did in April. These kids were having SO MUCH FUN playing with our piggy brick blocks. They built all these crazy formations and then had a blast knocking them down. We had a volunteer read the story of the three little pigs and then they would pretend to be the wolf and BLOW the houses down. (yes, we didn't have straw or wood, but the kids didn't care, they just wanted to build and destroy their buildings).

Lest you be concerned that destroying a block tower is a sign of anger management, DON"T BE! The repetition of building and knocking things over and then doing it again is a part of PLAY and part of LEARNING. (Obviously, you know your child, so you do know when its anger or misbehavior. But also, know that kids are kids and its okay.) 

Children build spatial understanding and math skills while engaged in block play. They can learn about counting, equality, addition, subtraction, planning, patterns, volume, classification, area and measurement. When a parent engages with their child in block play it provides teaching moments for social skills, language and exploration. 

At the the event, we'll be handing out our activity sheets with ideas of things to do in the home with BOOKS, BALLS and BLOCKS. Click here to download and print our Block Activity Sheet. But don't forget to come to our event and stay tuned for upcoming blog posts on other activity ideas!