best blocks for 12 month old?

[julieknit]

Hi everyone,
At my DS' 12 month check up, the pediatrician said that he should start playing with blocks, stacking them up and knocking them down. He said that they should be nice sized and big so that they would be easy for my DS to stack. What are the best block for that age group? There are so many choices, plastic, wood, foam, different sizes...... I'm so confused. Can anyone tell me what is the best blocks for this age?
J.

[KBecks]

We got Barclay unit blocks and a set of ABC wooden blocks at Target, you know the kind, with an A block a B block, etc.

I wish we had just gotten the ABC set and waited until later for the unit blocks, I think they are a little too big for the kids, so I'd suggest a set of the ABC wooden cubes. They are maybe almost 2" square each.

[hillview]

I like the Haba fantasy blocks for this age but I wouldn't describe them as large, they might be a little too small for what your doc suggested. That said I got them for DS #1 when he turned 1 and he stacked with them.
HTH
/hillary

[brittone2]

When I worked in Early Intervention, we used little unstained/unpainted blocks from Michael's that were part of our evaluation kits (one of our evaluation tools called for one inch blocks). They also have a slightly larger size (maybe more like one and a half and then 2 inches?)

Realistically for a one year old you really only need half a dozen or so.

ETA: We have some from Haba that have bells, kaleidoscopes, etc. and they are a nice size for stacking. Heroes makes some wooden blocks and they are also to Euro standards (I'd feel safer about the paint on those and the Haba ones over some other brands). I sometimes see Heroes at Tuesday Morning.

[Ceepa]

We picked up a box of unstained Melissa & Doug wooden blocks from ACMoore with a 40% off coupon.

[baileygirl]

We have a lot of blocks, and our favorite right now for our 18 month old is the Uncle Goose ABC blocks. Keep in mind at 12 months they don't do much with building...they spend more time banging, eating, throwing and knocking down then actual stacking.