Why All Kids Need a Set of Wooden Blocks

Children today have been crippled by high-tech, flashy, and expensive toys. No longer do we see kids riding bikes down the street, catching tadpoles in backyard puddles, or digging for bugs under rocks. With an average American child now spending six hours per day glued to a Technicolor screen, they are losing their abilities to see, create, feel, and imagine.

Wooden building blocks, a classic toy that almost all of us grew up exploring, are now almost never seen in children's playrooms. They are shoved in the backs of toy stores like skeletons in a closet: sad reminders of bygone times. But they can, and should, be revived. Buying your child a set of wooden blocks could be one of the best decisions you ever make as a parent.

Here's Why:

1. Wooden Blocks Encourage Imagination.

Blocks can be anything. A tower, a village, a town square. Tracks for toy cars. A house for tiny dolls... A child looks at a stack of blocks, and an infinite spectrum of ideas spring to life. Most toys today are utterly specific in their nature, leaving no room for creativity. Building blocks open a door to the wonderful world of a child's own imagination.

2. Wooden Blocks Develop Psychomotor Skills

From teaching a two-month-old how to grasp, to helping an eight-year-old learn how to place something with total precision, building blocks allow children to have fun while learning to control the fine muscles in their arms and hands. Blocks can also teach children the basic laws of physics, gravity, and architecture, as they experiment with ways to build balanced block structures.

3. Wooden Blocks are Good For the Environment

Building blocks made from natural wood, unlike plastic toys, do not use petroleum in their production (except for the energy needed to process and ship them). Some block sets are available that are created using only sustainably harvested wood made in America. The most earth-friendly woods for toy-making are oak, maple, and pine.

4. Wooden Blocks are Safe for Your Child

With lead contamination, bisophenol-A, and phthalates being a constant issue in plastic toys, wooden toys are a breath of fresh air for parents concerned about their children's safety. Contamination from these hazardous neurotoxins is common in plastic toys, but nearly unheard of in wooden toys. To play it extra safe, unpainted and unfinished wooden toys are an even better option.

5. Wooden Blocks are Inexpensive

Unlike heavily advertised and branded toys, wooden blocks do not require much money for the manufacturer or you. A set of blocks can cost as little as $5-$10. If you're specifically seeking nontoxic, sustainably harvested, fair-trade blocks, you may expect to pay quite a bit more, but you will also receive a higher-quality product. In any case, wooden blocks seem to provide endless hours of fun, for only a fraction of the cost of a video game system or a set of DVDs.