Why clickable blocks?

This experienced parent swears by Duplo. These versatile clickable blocks can be used by children of almost all ages and stages, so will give you many years of play. They are washable, fun, and near impossible to break. From a developmental point of view, you can use them to address many different skills, all with a satisfying “click!”

What to look for when shopping for blocks

There are lots of different clickable building blocks out there. The Duplo line by LEGO is well known, as are Mega Bloks. You might find other brands that also fit the bill. For the activities we describe to work it’s important that you find or purchase blocks that:

• Can click together in a tower

• Are large enough that they cannot fit in a child’s mouth. For young children under the age of 3, small regular LEGO bricks are not appropriate.

• Are small enough that a child can hold one in their hand

Our favorites are by far the Duplo Blocks because they are sturdy, build strong towers, and seem to last forever! I’ve included a link in case you want to get some (we make no money from this, they are just our honest favorites!

• Buy Duplo on Amazon

How to Play and What to Say 

Not all children are communicating and playing the same way. Click here to see what communication style best describes your child, then read below for ideas specific to their stage.

Explorers

How to Play: When you play Duplo with your Explorer, you will see if your child can copy different actions you do with the blocks. In this activity, you will not be assembling the blocks but instead will treat them as fun loose parts. 

Hold a block in each hand and bang the blocks on a table. Pause and see if your child copies what you are doing. Keep doing this for a while so that you and your child can copy each other while tapping the table. Next, bang the blocks together. See if your child switches from banging the table to banging the blocks together.

What to Say: Say the name of the action you are doing with the blocks while you do the action.

When you bang the blocks on the table or bang the blocks together, say “bang bang bang!”

You can also insert the word “bang” into a children’s song. For example, “This is the way we bang the blocks, bang the blocks, bang the blocks…” to the tune of Around the Mulberry Bush. You can sing the song and keep rhythm with the sound you make banging the blocks.

Pioneers

How to Play: When you play Duplo with your Pioneer, you will help them learn to understand action words “push” and “fall down” by pushing towers of blocks off the table. 

Click together a short tower of blocks, maybe about 5-6 blocks tall. Lay the tower on its side like a train. Gently push it slightly along a table so that it moves along the table like a train. Say, “push!” every time you push the “train.” Encourage your child to push as well, saying “push!” every time someone touches the tower. Eventually, get your tower to the edge of the table. Push it off the table so it falls down. When the tower falls down, say “oh no, it fell down!” 

What to Say: Say the name of the action that is happening lots of times while playing. Hearing the action words lots of times while playing will help your child to understand the words.

Say “push!” many times while you tap your “train” along the table. You can also make this a short sentence by saying “Push the tower” or “Push the train!”

When the tower falls down, say “fall down!” Feel free to be dramatic and silly about it. You can make this a short sentence by saying “Oh no, it fell down! The train fell down!”

Feel free to also add train noises and crashing noises to make it even more engaging for your child.

Extra credit: Your tower will likely break. Talk about this too, saying “Broken! The tower is broken! Oh no, let’s fix it. Fix the broken tower.”

Builders

How to Play: When you play Duplo with your Builder, you will help them learn to understand and use the location words “on top” and “under.”  You will be building a tower or building together. Follow your child’s lead and copy the type of thing that they are building. For this activity, keep the blocks in a container and hand your child the blocks one at a time so you can take turns adding to the structure. If you dump them all out, it stops being an activity that you are playing together because your child will simply start assembling the blocks all on their own.

Hand your child a block and let them add it to the structure. Say, “my turn!” and get out a block. Add your block to the structure. Take your turn quickly because your child will be antsy to have another turn. Once you have established a turn-taking routine, use a location word to describe where you are putting your block. Say “on top! I’m putting the red block on top!” On a different turn, lift up a tower and click your block on the underside of the tower. Say, “under! I’m putting the green block under!” The action of “on top” and “under” look very different, so pairing the actions with the words will help your child learn the different words.

What to Say: Say different location words a lot of times while you play. Since your child is watching you and listening, you are helping them learn to understand the words that describe these different locations. Resist the urge to tell your child where to put their block. Instead, simply narrate what is happening.

“On top! The orange block goes on top!” [put your block on top the tower]

“Let’s see… under. I’m going to put this block under your tower.” [put your block under the tower]

“Oh no, the block on top fell down!” [point to the block that fell down]

“Should I put this blue block on top or under?”

Extra credit: you can add other location words to your game such as “next to/beside,” “in,” and “between.”

© 2020-2023. Stephanie Keffer, MS CCC-SLP. All Rights Reserved.

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