Tunnel: The tunnel gives us the opportunity to teach our children a very important thing called spatial awareness. Climb through and over, sit on top, stand behind, sit in front, etc. This block also offers enough space for your little one to move up and down. For our older children, we encourage climbing up one side, then turning the body 180 degrees and then going down feet first on the other side. The tunnel also gives self-confidence as they learn how to crawl under the tunnel with ease. A fun thing we also do is to let a ball roll underneath the tunnel by kicking or pushing it. This way they learn about what fits under the tunnel and what doesn’t. Turn the tunnel upside down and see how your little one enjoys fantasy play.

The tunnel fill: A lovely block to use to practice mid-line crossing and enjoy fantasy play all at once. On top of a train, or a baby practicing to crawl over, this block stimulates and develops muscles and core. With this block, we also encourage children to use it as a balance block. We sway from side to side while sitting on it, lying on their backs and tummy going left to right and forward and back. With help from mom or dad, we let them stand on it by holding someone’s hands and rock from side to side.

Step: The two-step offers enough space for your little one to move up and down. We like to practice on the block in a crawling position on the floor, body on the first step and toys on the last step. This strengthens their shoulders to reach for toys, as well as the hips and legs to learn the crawling-skill. For very small babies, this is an extra nice exercise as a tummy-time activity and to get their little necks nice and strong.

Cylinder: This block fits perfectly with the wave. You can also help your little one to roll their bodies over the cylinder from front to back to help strengthen their shoulders and core. It is also a lovely block to encourage balancing by letting them put one foot on the block, rolling it back and forth, while balancing on the other foot.

Slide: The same types of exercises are done on the slide. Tummy-time on this block works well, and the babies enjoy it. Toys can again be placed on the steps opposite the slide so that your little one can reach for them to strengthen their shoulders while positioning themselves in the crawling position.

For older children: We encourage climbing up one side, then turning the body 180 degrees and then going down feet first on the other side. We do this on the back and tummy. Finally, we also want to encourage the children to go down head first too, with the help from mom or dad. This helps them with depth perception and planning. Overall they also enjoy constructing, creating and just simply having fun.