10 Reasons to Tell Your Kids to Stop Doing School and Go Build Something!

Would you like to supplement your curriculum with a program that simultaneously improves your child’s visual and spatial perception, fine motor skills, patience, problem-solving, creativity, ability to follow directions, pre-reading skills, grasp of physics concepts, and engineering ability? Better yet, what if your child could actually enjoy this curriculum and choose to do it whenever he could? No, this isn’t some mythical homeschool product guaranteed to solve all your problems. We are talking about the Lego bricks already strewn through your house, the ThinkPlay sets in our preschool curriculum, and the Bioloid robot kit designed for teens

Construction kits just might be the most underrated type of curriculum ever. It’s not just us; research concludes that children learn a lot by designing and building things. Would you agree that construction is one of the most valuable educational processes available?

Here are 10 skills your child will learn with his construction kit:

1. Visual Perception

It may be obvious that it takes visual perception to find the right pieces and place them where they belong, but consider that whether your child is reading, finishing a puzzle, or doing open-heart surgery, proficiency in visual perception is mandatory!

2. Fine-Motor Skills

Boys especially seem to struggle with fine motor skills, particularly when it comes to writing and drawing. Amazingly enough, though, they are often the most passionate about building – the natural remedy! The more they fine-tune their dexterity, the easier “school time” becomes for both of you!

3. Patience

Do you know anyone who couldn’t stand to be a little more patient? Construction takes time. Slowing down, reading directions, starting over when you make a mistake or a sibling knocks over your creation… these are all valuable character-building experiences.

4. Problem Solving

Some children simply lack the ability to troubleshoot a situation and figure out the next step. Construction sets provide a structured opportunity to figure out what went wrong and to fix it if you’re following the directions. If you are designing your own models, you’ll have even more opportunities to problem-solve.

5. Spatial Perception

Probably the clearest picture of how important it is to be able to mentally convert 2D images into 3D objects is that of a surgeon. Knowing where the spleen is on a 2D textbook page isn’t nearly the same thing as being able to reach into an incision and find the damaged spleen.

6. Creativity

Not every creative person has artistic ability. But construction can open the doors of creativity like no other tool. What if I move this gear over here? Could I build that bridge with only blue pieces?

7. Ability to Follow Directions

Some children are natural rule-followers and need to be encouraged to be creative. Others need constraint to follow directions, at least on occasion. If your child falls into that camp, construction kits are a natural way to encourage them in this skill, with the added benefit of a finished result he can show off.

8. Pre-Reading Skills

Did you know that a child who cannot duplicate a pattern will be a poor candidate for reading and writing? Not only that, the use of pattern duplication is a proven approach to helping prepare children to understand abstract math concepts and higher-order thinking. But if you have a scholar who rolls his eyes at working with pattern blocks and sighs deeply when asked to replicate a design with traditional four-sided blocks, you need construction kits.

9. Grasp of Physics Concepts

Friction, force, mass, energy are concepts of basic physics--each more easily explained and grasped with a set of blocks and a ball than simply by studying a dry textbook definition.

10. Engineering Ability

Many “born engineers” are not drawn to textbooks. But set a construction kit in front of them and watch them explore pulleys, levers, wheels, gears. They’ll soon go from exploration to innovation, and you’ll be amazed at their inventions.

Products Featured in This Post

• Geosmart Educational Set: Deluxe (ages 3+)
• ThinkPlay STEM Junior Xtra
• Fischertechnik Profi Mechanic & Static (ages 9+)
• Plus-Plus Big Learn and Explore (ages 1-6)

More Construction Sets

• Clixo Mars Rover (ages 6-10)
• Fischertechnik Advanced Universal 4 (ages 7+)
• Fischertechnik E-Trontic (ages 9+)
• Fischertechnik Profi Hydraulic (ages 9+)
• Fischertechnik Profi Strong Pneumatics (ages 9+)
• GeoStix Letter Construction Set (ages 3+)
• GraviTrax Academy Bundle (ages 8-99)
• Mini Bricks: The White House (ages 5+)
• OLLO Excel (ages 10+)
• OLLO Spark (ages 9+)
• Plus-Plus Excursion (ages 5+)
• Stages Blocks (ages 3+)
• ThinkPlay Gears Extreme (ages 5+)
• ThinkPlay Preschool (ages 2.5+)
• ThinkPlay STEM Junior Xtra (ages 4-9)