Toy blocks could aid language skills

Playing with blocks helps young children gain language skills, a small study has concluded.

After six months, language scores among half of 175 children ages 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 who were sent plastic blocks were 15% higher than a matched group that did not receive the free blocks, according to the study by researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Parents were given ideas about how to help their children play with the blocks, then kept diaries of their children’s activities over four days. Finally, all the parents filled out questionnaires that assessed their child’s vocabulary, grammar and other language abilities.

Study author Dimitri Christakis, writing in this month’s issue of Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, said unstructured play with blocks stimulates thinking, memory and physical mastery of objects at a time when a child’s brain is growing rapidly. Such play may also substitute for less stimulating activities such as watching television, he said.

The study was funded by Mega Bloks, owned by Montreal-based toy maker MEGA Brands Inc.