Every week at my daughter’s violin lesson, my kids would head straight for the cardboard brick building blocks and play quietly for a solid 30 minutes. That was enough for me to send them as a Christmas gift idea to my mother-in-law, who thankfully heeded my request and sent them our way.
These cardboard brick building blocks by Melissa & Doug are now a
house favorite, with my kids using them to build castles, houses, and
yes, even a makeshift Angry Birds game. Keep in mind that they do take a
bit of time to assemble, mamas, and if you live in a small space, well,
you might be using them to create extra seating. But as luck would have
it, they have the same mesmerizing effect in our house as they did at
my daughter’s music school. So worth it! -Kristen
Purchase the Melissa & Doug deluxe jumbo blocks at our affiliate Amazon.com
We had blocks like these when we were kids! (Just red ones, though.) We used them to build towers and mazes and to turn our whole playroom into a gigantic Barbie mansion. And we loved discovering that we could unfold them and use them as closets for Barbie clothes. Years later, when Mom was putting toys in the attic, she said she heard something rattling in one of the top blocks and discovered Barbie shoes, so she hauled the box back downstairs and opened every single block–half of our Barbie clothes must have been in those blocks!
My kids have had these for years and still play with them often. In fact, just today they built a race track for their scooters with them. They’ve made castles, forts, and entire cities with them. And they’re ultra durable – they look brand new and there’s not one missing from our set.
My mother-in-law gave numerous sets to my daughter for her 1st birthday…she just turned 5! My girls play with these daily and still look brand new! What a great gift idea!