STEM Learning

Using Block Play to Improve STEM Skills

September / 2018

Can block play really improve STEM skills? How does that even work? And what is "competitive structured block play"? We're giving you all the answers below.

At Blocks Rock!, we often talk about how structured block play is an important learning tool that improves STEM skills for kids. You might be wondering about how that works and what we mean by “structured”; we wouldn’t blame you! To answer your questions on all things block play, we’re breaking down how block play builds STEM skills and introducing you to our own special type of block building - competitive structured block play.

Block Play Benefits

There are tons of benefits of block play like how block play can build social skills, physical and motor skills, creative skills, intellectual skills, and more! We’ve previously done a deep dive into these general benefits in a blog post that you can read here.

Here’s where STEM skills come in. The Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Indiana University studied Blocks Rock!, which is structured block play, and found that the block play had a significant impact on mental rotation and spatial reasoning when compared to a board game.

Spatial reasoning (also known as spatial awareness) is the ability to look and understand the relationship between shapes, spaces, and areas, including the relationship of your own body to other objects (Occupational Therapy for Children). A report found that students with higher spatial reasoning abilities will have a higher likelihood of furthering their education and future careers in STEM! In short, spatial reasoning is without a doubt critical for your child’s future in STEM.

And so just like that, block play has been scientifically proven to improve skills critical for STEM learning! You can learn more about spatial awareness and how you can develop this critical skill by clicking here.

What does “Competitive Structured Block Play” mean?

As we mentioned above, Blocks Rock! is structured block play. So what exactly does that mean? For us, the “structure” comes from our set of rules on how to play the game and by giving kids shapes to build from our cards or using our 3D app. Blocks Rock! is also competitive in nature, with kids trying to build their color- and-shape-specific structures in the shortest amount of time. Children can compete one-on-one or in teams.

That’s why we’ve coined our own term, and it’s one you’ll want to remember: competitive structured block play!

If you want to learn more about the benefits of Blocks Rock! specifically you can click here, but if not, just remember your new favorite phrase - competitive structured block play!