Playing with toy blocks improves learning skills

Toy blocks

Playing with blocks may help preschoolers develop the kind of skills that support later learning in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), according to a new study published in the Journal Child Development by researchers at the University of Delaware and Temple University  in United states.

The study, carried out on more than a hundred of 3-years old children of various socioeconomic levels showed that children who were good at copying block structures were also better at early math. The result also indicated that children from lower income families who don’t have the experience of blocks building and other toys were behind in some skills compared to other children.

 Giving children the opportunity to play with such toys can help develop skills that will have long lasting effects on later STEM –related educational outcomes, the researchers suggest.