Arlo is a huge fan of construction, ever since he has been able to place stacking bricks on top of one another he’s been happy – able to flex his creativity and experiment with materials and resources. This had also been noticed at nursery and we constantly got feedback about how well he did with problem solving. I used to look at the nursery app and see pictures of him playing and try and continue the activities at home, but now he’s started school I’ve got no idea what he gets up to most of the time. He tells me in his own way, but I end up having to put things together to figure out what he’s explaining – I’d been scratching my head for weeks when he started telling me about his teachers building bricks.
We visited every toy shop I could think of and nothing I pointed out was right, in fact I was beginning to think he was taking me on a wild goose chase but then out of the blue the opportunity came to review Stickle Bricks from Hasbro, and memories of playing with these at school myself came flooding back. I had a quick search online and found that they were available in Costco so we took a trip together one rainy weekend and sure enough as soon as he spotted them he was delighted.
We couldn’t get to the checkout fast enough (I insisted on a detour to the bakery section first) and then had to delve in to the box as soon as we got home. This 200+ piece mega set has everything you need to create all sorts of fun. Suitable for 18m plus too which is great, in fact I can’t believe we haven’t got these in our playroom already.
If you aren’t sure of what I’m talking about these building blocks have their own unique sticky bits which help you build. Unlike other construction toys accuracy isn’t the most important as as long as you have the motor skills to push two pieces together then you can build and they’re pretty stable in terms of construction.
This set contains many basic pieces for imaginary play and lots of unique bits and bobs such as wheels, farm yard animals and figure heads. The cardboard box with a carry handle for storage has lots of images which help with ideas and there’s a little leaflet inside – Arlo spotted a tractor and an airplane which he wanted to create and then began approaching the parts with his own ideas, eventually deciding on a robot.
At age four this kind of toy is perfect for us to play together and also encourages independent play too. Being made from plastic they can be used in sensory and tuff tray activities and have educational value too. We’re currently working on our phonics and counting so I’ve been using the bricks to form letter shapes and also demonstrate addition and subtraction – because Arlo always is so engaged with the construction element of the play it helps to use this to work on other things and he doesn’t the realise he is learning even more.
Last Updated on 5 months by Lavania Oluban
great fun