I buy my Christmas presents ahead of time and sometimes it’s really hard to keep them under wraps. Especially when I’m excited about the gift!  My youngest is 23 months old and his absolute favorite game is “knock-down.”  So when BacktoBlocks.com contacted me and asked me if I would review their blocks I was very excited because I knew my little guy would love the chance to play with them.  I consider these blocks a gift to my son, but I couldn’t keep the gift away from him so I thought I’d share some fun game ideas with you.

I’ve included a link to BacktoBlocks.com as a part of this post, but this is not an affiliate link.

Five Games you can play with Blocks

1. Knock Down – My son usually uses his stuffed cookie monster to do the dirty work.  But when I caught him red-handed I just had to snap a picture.  In this game I stack the blocks for him as high as he will let me and then he knocks them all down.  This is usually accompanied by delighted squeals and grunts and the words “knock-down” by my little guy.
2. Hide and Seek – When I’m playing hide and seek with a 23-month-old, hiding means leaving the object out in the open where he can see it. I might lay a blanket on top, but only if he sees me do it. He understands object permanence at this point, and can find things if he sees where I hide them.  I just “hide” the blocks and then encourage him to find them and bring them to me.
3. Bowling Pins – One of the great things about these blocks is that they are wooden. So they make a wonderful “bowling pin” crashing sound when they hit our hard wood floor.  This delights my son to no end. He just laughs and giggles as they make a crashing sound. You won’t get thrills like this with foam blocks.  Just place the blocks in a bowling pin formation and use a toy ball as your “bowling ball” to knock down the pins.
4. Stack and Build – I was amazed at how skilled my little guy was at aligning blocks. He managed to stack three cylinder shaped blocks on top of each other.  These blocks and well-crafted and they are easy to stack and build with. You do not have to worry that no two shapes are alike.  With this set you can build structures that hold up – even when you have the dexterity of a 23-month-old.
5. Make Letters – We’re working on our learning to read series and these blocks are great for forming letters in a whole new way. If you view the blocks from above you can make just about any letter of the alphabet.  This is a great exercise to encourage imagination, and teach a young child about perspective.  This activity has been perfect for my 3 & 1/2 year-old.

We received 36 blocks from BacktoBlocks.com. They are smooth and easy for small hands to handle. These blocks are unpainted which can be a good thing if your child chews on toys or still puts everything into their mouth- you don’t have to worry about paint chipping off and being swallowed. What I like the most is how easy they are to build up and tear down.  With two little boys in the house, tearing down is just as important as building up since the tear-down is exciting and fun to watch.

The BacktoBlocks.com brand is a bit more expensive than some of the others I’ve seen online.  But these blocks are a timeless, classic toy that is made in the United States. BacktoBlocks.com has block-building packages in various shapes and sizes; all of the blocks are made from natural hardwood and are all handcrafted in Kaysville, Utah.

Here at my house the blocks are being used daily.  I’ll trade peace and quiet to hear the laughter of a 23 month-old busily crashing blocks on my floor any day, just because I love to hear him laugh.

Thanks for being a Happy and Blessed Home fan and if you have any fun games that you like to play with blocks I would love to hear from you.

In His Grip,

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