Over the next few months, the library will feature one of our new Children’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) kits every week. This week’s kit is Rainbow Blocks! If you have a young builder, this kit is for you! This kit is perfect for kids age 2+.
This kit contains one STEM toy: 30 Guidecraft Junior Rainbow Blocks. It also contains 2 books, Pantone: Colors by Pantone and Dreaming Up: A Celebration of Building by Christy Hale.
As you can see, these are not your usual blocks! Each block is filled with a sturdy colored plastic piece. The best part of these blocks is building with them, but we love a toy that allows casual learning. For example, the blocks are also in a variety of shapes, so you can say, “This is a triangle. Do you see it has three sides?” while your baby is holding a triangle. There are also rectangles, circles, squares, and half-circles to name.
Another idea is to use the blocks to teach primary and secondary colors. You can point out all the colors in each block, but you can also combine the blocks to make new colors. When you put together a blue and a yellow block, it makes green! It is great for kids to see color combinations in a tactile way, but it’s a lot less messy than mixing paint!
To make your time even more fun, we’ve included two books:
The book Dreaming Up: A Celebration of Building shows how the things children build with–cups, blocks, mud–can sometimes look like buildings we see around the world. It’s a fun way to encourage your little architects. What they are doing IS real building, whether it’s with boxes or rainbow blocks.
Pantone: Colors is a fun colors book. You can name all the basic colors with your child (red, orange, yellow, and so on), but you can also show them all the different shades of those colors. See all the different shades of purple!
We hope you enjoy this STEM kit. We have one Rainbow Blocks kit available for a 3 week checkout. Currently, you can find the kit in the adult department in our Library of Things. Take the DVD case with “STEM Kit: Rainbow Blocks” to the Circulation Desk, and a library staff member will go and get the kit and check it out for you.
If you have any questions about STEM kits, please contact Laura at [email protected].