Image: MomJunction Design Team
The best wooden blocks for toddlers are great tools for improving children’s fine motor skills and sparking their creativity. Building blocks fire their imagination, encourage creative thinking, and boost their craft skills over time.
Working with blocks of different shapes and surfaces, such as cubes, rectangular prisms, triangles, and cylinders, and creating various structures, such as towers, can help boost children’s creativity and help them develop critical skills like logical thinking, hand-eye coordination, and social skills.
If you’re looking to bring home a toy that is both entertaining and educational, wooden blocks would be a great choice. Keep scrolling as we have listed the best-selling wooden blocks for toddlers in this post.
Top Picks
11 Best Wooden Blocks For Toddlers
1. Best Lightweight: Melissa & Doug Wooden Building Blocks Set
These wooden building blocks would aid in the development of your child’s cognitive skills as they engage them in building different structures. The 100-piece wooden block set comes in four colors and nine different shapes. These blocks are made of solid wood and are lightweight and durable, with rounded edges and a smooth painted finish. The construction blocks come in a variety of shapes, such as cubes, cylinders, arches, half-circles, and prisms, and are designed to hone your toddler’s motor skills. You can check out this YouTube video for more information about these traditional blocks from the trusted brand.
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Why We Think It's Worth Buying
With over 20,296 reviews on Amazon, it's clear that many people love this product.
2. Best For Motor Skills: Melissa & Doug Deluxe Wooden ABC/123 1-Inch Blocks Set
You can make learning fun for your toddler with this 123-block set containing 50 one-inch wooden cube blocks made of sturdy hand-painted wood. The educational blocks are painted with pictures, letters, and numbers, allowing your child to stack, match, sequence, or sort them as they please. In addition, there is a pouch that comes with the blocks for easy storage. These handcrafted wooden blocks are a suitable gift as they are painted on both sides to aid in the development of your toddler’s motor skills and hand-eye coordination as they play with them. If you are still unsure about purchasing, you can check out a review of this product on YouTube.
3. Best For Imagination: Fao Schwarz Wooden Castle Building Blocks Set
This creative set of 150 solid pine wood blocks will allow your toddler to develop their imagination as they build a castle. The blocks are long-lasting and safe, allowing your child to build bridges, castles, towers, and arches while learning spatial and problem-solving skills. They make for a great gift and can offer your child hours of fun and entertainment. You can check out this YouTuber’s review of the product if you require more convincing.
4. Best For Engaging: Hape Maple Wood Kids Building Blocks
These 50 brightly colored jumbo wooden blocks of various shapes will keep your child engaged for hours. They are sturdy, durable, made of solid wood, and painted with non-toxic child-safe paint. These eco-friendly and safe blocks also come with a canvas bag for ease of storage and transport. These basic blocks from the trusted brand Hape can help improve your child’s motor skills and coordination during their formative years. The edges of these curved blocks are rounded to protect your little one from hurting themselves on sharp corners.
Why We Think It's Worth Buying
This product is a hit with users, evidenced by the 2,443 fine reviews on Amazon.
5. Best Natural: Brain Blox Wooden Building Blocks For Kids
The Brain Blox wooden building blocks for children are made from 100% all-natural pine wood and are great in aesthetics and creativity. This entertaining building plank set is an appropriate STEM toy set, developing children’s hand-eye coordination, cognitive skills, and problem-solving abilities, making it one of the best wooden puzzle blocks for little ones. The toy set has 100 balance blocks and is recommended for ages four years and above. This block puzzle comes with a string bag for easy storage and is based on balance and friction.
Do remember6. Best For Spatial Skills: Lewo Large Wooden Blocks Construction Building Toys Set
The Lewo set of 32 wooden building blocks includes a carry bag for easy storage and is ideal for improving your child’s hand-eye coordination, spatial, and cognitive skills. These baby blocks are made of high-quality, non-toxic hardwood and come in eight shapes, including cubes, arches, rectangular plans, rectangular prisms, triangles, and cylinders. In addition, the wood building toy set includes blocks in seven vibrant colors: yellow, orange, red, blue, green, burlywood, and orange-red.
Why We Think It's Worth Buying
More than 1,628 independent reviewers on Amazon have acknowledged the product's durability and functionality.
7. Best For Preschool Learning: Pidoko Kids Wooden Blocks
The brightly colored wooden blocks set from Pidoko are made of natural wood. Comprising 100 block pieces, the fun activity set also includes a shape sorter lid and a storage container. These building cum shape sorting blocks are suitable for engaging children aged between three and eight years. These tried-and-tested blocks are divided into four bright colors and help promote early learning and development, making them suitable preschool toys. They are stackable to encourage creative thinking and imagination, making for a great gift. Made of durable and sustainable materials and devoid of sharp edges, these are safe for your child.
8. Best For Entertainment: Migargle Wooden Building Blocks Set
This brightly colored creative set of stackable blocks for city construction may be just what you need to offer your child hours of fun and entertainment. This 115-piece can be a fun gift as it includes a play mat and blocks with numbers and words. It encourages children to learn about various aspects of city life and buildings. When not in use, the package is compact and sturdy, and the colored box allows easy storage and shelving of the blocks.
Each block is made of high-quality wood painted with bright water-based paint, and is sanded smooth to perfection. There are various kinds of blocks to build different buildings such as a hospital, police station, bank, store, and hotel. These safe and durable blocks provide limitless construction possibilities, helping your child hone their cognitive, motor, and problem-solving skills.
9. Best For One-Year-Olds: Top Bright Wooden Building Blocks
This 80-piece set includes eight colored block toys with animals and letters printed on them. Six of the blocks in the set are made of soft rubber and can be used for playing and as chew toys. They make squeaky sounds and have an embossed design to stimulate sensory development in one-year-old children.
The set includes a bucket to wind them up after playing quickly. In addition, the age-appropriate set consists of a shape-sorter to keep your child occupied while they collect their toy blocks. Further, the wooden blocks are BPA- and phthalate-free, with rounded edges and an exquisite polish to provide a safe and high-quality product for your child.
10. Best For Creative Skills: iPlay, iLearn Wooden Building Blocks Set
These Montessori blocks from the trusted brand iPlay, iLearn consist of 72 pieces that can be stacked to form almost anything your child can imagine, making them one of the best creative play blocks. In addition, there are 13 different shapes of blocks available, including square, rectangle, circle, triangle, arch, cylinder, and others, allowing your child to be creative and build unique structures. The high-quality natural hardwood blocks are sturdy and child-safe. These baby blocks come with a wooden storage crate for ease of storage.
Do remember11. Best Stackable: Panda Brothers Wooden Balancing Stones
The Panda Brothers wooden balancing stones are one of the best Montessori toys and imaginative play blocks that help boost creativity among children in their early years of development. Suitable for children aged three years and above, this durable set of block toys includes 20 large-sized wooden building blocks. They are segregated into five different sizes, weight variations, and shapes, encouraging exploration and stacking. The architectural blocks are made of pinewood, have a simple design, and are lightweight for easy handling and portability.
How To Choose The Right Wooden Blocks For Toddlers?
Consider the following factors before purchasing wooden blocks for toddlers.
1. Safety: The wood must be smooth and free of sharp edges. It should have a simple design, be of the perfect size for the child to hold, and large enough to avoid choking hazards. Also, the paint used should be non-toxic.
2. Ease of storage: A set with several blocks can be messy when they are lying around after your toddler has played with it. Therefore, choose a set with an easy storage option and a container that will entice your toddler to put the blocks back in place.
3. Features: Blocks come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, allowing your toddler to build various structures in several ways. You can choose from magnetic building blocks, wooden unit blocks, oversized giant block toys, rubber toy blocks, and more. You will also find sets of painted blocks with numbers, letters, or animal prints to help your toddler learn while honing their cognitive skills.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What age are wooden blocks suitable for?
Wooden blocks are available in different sizes and designs to make them suitable for children of different ages. Simple wooden blocks can be introduced to babies as young as six months as they love knocking on the stacked wooden blocks. By around 12 to 18 months, toddlers may learn to stack, and wooden blocks without sharp edges are a good choice
2. Are building blocks good for a one-year-old?
Yes, building blocks can help develop your one-year-old’s sensory skills, fine motor skills, and hand-eye coordination. They also encourage open-ended play and help them develop critical thinking.
3. Are wooden blocks safe for toddlers?
Natural wood blocks and those painted with non-toxic colors are safe for toddlers. They are also durable and withstand rough play.
4. How should I engage children in playing with blocks?
The best way to engage children with blocks is to build them yourself. You can encourage the babies to knock the towers down and show them that there are multiple ways to build the blocks. Refrain from asking them to build them themselves–instead, allow them to pick the blocks at their own pace and interest.
5. Why should I choose wooden building blocks over other types of block materials?
Wooden toys are simple, and their texture and sounds are soothing to the senses. They have a natural finish and are eco-friendly, safe, durable, and timeless, making them a better choice than those made of artificial materials.
6. Can babies chew on wooden blocks?
Wooden blocks made of natural wood and devoid of wood polish or chemical-based paints are safe to use as teethers for babies. However, ensure the wood does not chip nor has any sharp edges that might hurt your baby.
Why Trust MomJunction?
Priti Bose, our experienced writer, dedicates her time to reviewing toys and gifting products. After considering your preferences and requirements, she scans multiple products on trusted e-commerce websites to bring you highly-rated products based on user reviews. She has done the same with this list of the best wooden blocks for toddlers. Besides detailed descriptions of each product, this informative buying guide will also help you decide on a toy that boosts childrens’ imagination and creativity.
Investing in a set of the best wooden blocks for toddlers from trusted brands allows your little ones to develop their motor and creativity skills. To pick the ideal set of blocks for your child, consider the shape, size, durability, and type of material used in making them, as it will help you ensure they are large enough to prevent choking. Ensure the blocks are age-appropriate and made from non-toxic materials. Further, buying colorful blocks may encourage your little one to play with them more and develop an interest in problem solving.
Infographic: How To Clean And Maintain Wooden Blocks?
Wooden blocks are timeless toys that offer endless possibilities for creativity and learning. However, regular cleaning is essential, especially if your child puts them in their mouth, uses them while unwell, or when the blocks become dirty. Check out the following infographic to learn how to clean wooden blocks properly to ensure hygiene is maintained.
Illustration: Momjunction Design Team
References
- Play idea: Blocks – Poro rākau – Education.govt.nz
https://www.education.govt.nz/early-childhood/teaching-and-learning/learning-ideas/blocks/
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