Wooden blocks

[firsttimemama]

Do your kids like these? DS is vehicle obsessed and currently ignores his duplos and megablocks most of the time. Wooden blocks are on my wishlist for him, but I'm wondering if he'll even play with them.

Any opinions on natural wood color vs the colorful M&D type?

[kristac]

We LOVE unit blocks. We have a vehicle obsession here as well so often the blocks end up making roads/bridges/garages for thier cars but they build towers, zoos, mazes, and such as well. I have several sets of the M&D unit block and I have purchased some individual pieces as well (ramps especially). I have heard natural wood is best because eventually the colors can be distracting for older kids (i.e. they only want to use red for the tower). We do have a set of smaller colorful tabletop blocks that get a good amount of play as well.

[wendibird22]

DD has these. She enjoys stacking them up and pulling the cart around. We like that we can also use them to teach letters, numbers, and recognition of items that begin with the letter.

[Gena]

We have a couple of sets of wooden ABC blocks. We also have the Rainbow Design blocks from Lakeshore Learning.

http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/seo...es/viewall.jsp

If your son is vehicle obsessed and you like wooden toys, you might want to look at the small wooden vehicles at Doodletown Toys:

http://www.doodletowntoys.com/Catego...ry=Little+Toys

We bought DS a "Bag of Doodles" (set of 8 vehicles) a few years ago at the Michigan Renaissance Festival. He loves them and still plays with them. They are a great size to fit in little hands.

[ett]

We love our wooden blocks here, but my kids love all building toys. I prefer natural vs. color because I don't have to worry about paint chipping and kids being picky about particular colors.

[ett]

If your son is vehicle obsessed and you like wooden toys, you might want to look at the small wooden vehicles at Doodletown Toys:

http://www.doodletowntoys.com/Catego...ry=Little+Toys

We bought DS a "Bag of Doodles" (set of 8 vehicles) a few years ago at the Michigan Renaissance Festival. He loves them and still plays with them. They are a great size to fit in little hands.

Those are so cute! I think DS2 would love those!

[citymama]

We have amazing amazing large wooden blocks that DH's mom got him from Europe as a kid. They're beautifully finished, various (fairly large) sizes. She stored them all these years - they're fantastic quality. DD doesn't play with them much. She prefers her more brightly colored, smaller wooden blocks. Could you take him to a museum playroom (eg Building museum in DC) or a high-end toy store and see what he gravitates towards? Good quality wooden blocks are pricey, though obviously a long-lasting investment. I'm glad I didn't spend a huge amount of money on blocks only to have DD ignore them, but I also know she's not really a kid who's that into blocks.

[fivi2]

We have both the plain wooden unit blocks (M&D) and the smaller painted ones (a big tub of some german brand from Tuesday Morning). The smaller ones got more play when they were younger, but from about 3 yo on, the plain unit blocks get more play.

Not sure how old your ds is, but starting at about 1 yo, the big cardboard brick blocks were a hit. At over 3.5 yo, they still get a ton of play.

My girls are builders though (and also love duplo) so YMMV!

[firsttimemama]

DS is 22 mo.

I do like the big cardboard blocks. I wonder if I should go with those instead of unit? Or maybe both. There's really not much on his Christmas list. So I could maybe do both.

[Kindra178]

Just ordered Beka ones from Oompa. Expensive, but made in the USA. My one year old twins and my three year old had a blast with them yesterday and today. The twins are big mouthers, so I was pleased that the blocks were made here and natural wood, so no need to worry about paint chips.