Innovating Block Play: Explore More, Build More, Play More
For the first time in over 100 years, standard unit blocks are getting an update - and trust me, it was worth the wait. I’m so excited to share how we decided to innovate on one of the greatest play systems ever designed.
But first, a quick history lesson.
What is a Unit Block?
Unit blocks were designed in 1914 by Caroline Pratt, founder of City and Country School and all-around progressive education champion. Pratt revolutionized how we see learning through play through her work in child-directed classrooms in New York City. She was a constructivist - which means she believed that humans build knowledge through their experiences. For children, that learning happens by reconstructing the world around them through play.
To meet the needs she observed in early childhood, Pratt designed and created standard unit blocks — a mathematical block play system based on the "unit" block, which is then multiplied and divided to create all of the other blocks in the system.
Mathematically-designed blocks allow kids to make countless discoveries about STEM topics, from simple pattern building all the way to understanding fractions and multiples. They're traditionally made of unfinished hardwood, which results in a perfect, sturdy, neutral, open-ended building toy.
The unit block system remains virtually unchanged over 100 years later, and the reason is simple: why mess with a system that works beautifully? A system that meets the needs of its user effortlessly and with beautiful simplicity? It simply worked right from the start, and it still does.
Pratt designed unit blocks to be as open-ended and child-directed as possible - a perfect tool for making sense of the world through play. For building and rebuilding the experiences children have in their regular lives and need to process or problem solve.
How is Guidecraft Innovating the Unit Block System?
Keeping Pratt's main goals of totally open-ended, child-directed play at its heart, we at Guidecraft took on the challenge of innovating on her beautiful 100-year-old system.
We challenged ourselves to find ways children could explore more of the natural world with blocks. Blocks depend on gravity to work, and through play kids get to see how balance, symmetry, and so many other mathematical factors can be impacted by gravity. To push outside of that box, we developed a set of unit blocks that incorporate colorful solid acrylic, faceted gems, and blocks with window-like openings that all align seamlessly with standard unit blocks while allowing kids to explore light, color, and design in their constructive play.
Children can now build well-balanced, mathematical structures that not only encourage exploration with gravity, but also consider the position of a sunbeam to refract light through windows.
They can explore how colors mix, and how they bend and change when acrylic blocks are stacked or layered together.
They can experiment with a familiar play tool in new ways with blocks that have window-like openings and countless possibilities. Through this play children will begin to build concrete understandings of big physics-based ideas.
We're so excited to introduce the first acrylic unit blocks ever made. Our new sets not only honor Caroline Pratt's beautiful block play system but also innovate on it in a way that respects her first and deepest goals for learning and play in childhood — I really believe she'd love it!
Ready to start your family's block collection? Check out Guidecraft's Unit Blocks and for more block play tips and ideas, find Sami at @everydaywitheandj on Instagram or at everydaywitheandj.com!
