Homemade Baby Blocks

For me, there are some issues about building blocks for kids. Up front, the blocks are very expensive nowadays. And, there’s really only one type of blocks for little babies and those are the square blocks which depict numbers, letters, and simplistic shapes. But as babies get a little older they might need a bit more stimulation than those ho-hum images. Make your own building blocks and your child will have much more visually interesting things to stack.

There are different materials you can use to make the building blocks and you’ll find any of those things at a craft store. Choose Styrofoam blocks which are inexpensive and lightweight. Or, select wooden blocks which hold up for years and are much like the classic wooden blocks with the numbers, letters and images. You can even use something like paper mache boxes. The paper mache is available in many sizes and is especially inexpensive. Paint the Styrofoam, wood, or paper mache cubes any color you want. Check paint labels for types which are suitable for Styrofoam as some paints melt it. If you’re using paper mache cubes use the ones with have an attached lid. Shut the lid and glue or tape it that way. If you want, put a bell, some beads or other noisemakers in the box before gluing it shut.

Cut interesting pictures, papers, and other visually stimulating images to put on the blocks. Some sources for such things include maps, magazines, family photos, travel brochures, and calendars. Cut shapes to be almost the size of one side of the cube but just a tad smaller. Glue these shapes on with non-toxic white glue or glue sticks. Be sure the edges and corners are glued down well.

You can create a theme for each block, like an ocean theme or animal theme, or you can just create various blocks with assorted images but no particular theme. There are no rules to how you make the blocks. You can leave them unfinished, and just write or draw on each side of each block with a marker, or you can paint the blocks then draw on them.

Older kids especially love the blocks which they still enjoy as toddlers or pre-school kids. But if they tire of the same old images you can always cut new papers and glue them on over the first set. That way, your child will want to play with them yet again.


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