4 Ways to Learn and Play with Mega Blocks

One of the most effective ways I’ve found to help my kiddos learn is by doing it in a way that feels like PLAY! Both of my little ones (4 and 2) enjoy building with these large, mega blocks- so why not incorporate some learning as they play? There is something for everyone here in this post- a color sorting activity that works well for younger toddlers, simple addition and word building which works well for preschoolers, and a painting/sensory activity which works well for just about anyone who enjoys open-ended, somewhat messy play!

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Identifying colors, sorting colors, and matching colors are some of the first skills your toddler will get excited about learning. For this activity, all we did was flip over a couple different colored mega blocks, and set out the coordinating colored pom poms. I had Tatum (2) focus on picking a pom pom, naming the color, and then sorting it into the matching colored block.

To make this activity even more beneficial, have them use tongs, or fine motor tweezers to grab and transfer the pom poms. Squeezing/pinching with tongs and tweezers is a great way to build fine motor skills which will eventually help with things like eating properly with utensils, zipping, buttoning, and tying clothes, pencil grip, and writing!

Here’s a super easy, fun way to introduce simple addition to your toddler or preschooler! Did you know that you can write on these blocks with dry erase marker (I like these in particular for this because they are fine point and have the eraser on the cap)? I would suggest testing it out on just one block first and then double, triple check that it erases just so that I don’t end up being at fault for ruining your mega blocks. ;) All I did to prep this activity, was write a few simple addition problems out on a few different blocks using dry erase marker.

I talked with Kade (4) about how we needed to find a different colored block to represent each number (ex: 2 purple blocks plus 2 yellow blocks). Once we found the blocks and created the equation, I had him add them up to tell me what he ended up with all together. We also talked about how you could use a block with 2 pegs to represent the number 2, rather than using 2 single pegs. Aside from being an introduction to simple addition, this is also great practice for number identification, counting, and even some fine motor skills by working with the blocks.

As mentioned earlier, my oldest is 4 now and definitely knows all of his colors, but he’s starting to get to the point where he wants to know what things say, and can recognize beginning sounds/the first letter in a word. We are going to spend some time this school year working on learning to read color words as kind of an intro to sight words.

This will hopefully make it easier to plan similar activities for Tatum (2) who is working on mastering naming, matching, and sorting colors. For this activity, we used our active learning journal (credit to my friend Theresa- read more about this brilliant learning tool on her blog) as a guide with the color words written out (in color for now- the hope is that he will be able to recognize them eventually without the color coding).

I used dry erase marker to write letters on our mega blocks (always test on one block first to be sure it will erase for you!) and then he had to find each letter needed to build/spell each color word! He loved getting to help me erase all the letters off the blocks when we were done- it’s the little things!

This would also be a great way to practice names, sight words, spelling words, number order, or ABCs!

The academic piece of this activity may be a little less obvious but it’s still there! Kids are exploring textures, engaging in imaginative/pretend play, being creative, and building vocabulary. A toy like this is great for painting because it can easily be thrown in a tub of soapy water and cleaned right up. To set this up, I threw a bunch of blocks in an empty storage container and put some washable, tempera paints in a 6-cup muffin tin. I gave each kiddo a paintbrush and let them just go to town. They loved trying to figure out which colors worked best on which colored blocks and the paint went on so smoothly.

I don’t have this part pictured, but I did end up having them wash these blocks for me later. We did this the next day after the paint had dried but you could do it right after if you wanted to keep the fun going. I just took out the muffin tin and put it in the sink (I cleaned that part up myself), then filled that same tub that had the blocks in it with water and dish soap. I gave them each a sponge, and a towel for drying and told them to get all the paint off. What a fun way to get some toys cleaned while also teaching an important life skill!

I hope that these activities inspire some fun, play-based learning in your own home or classroom. If you liked them, be sure to PIN to Pinterest, and if you end up trying any of them, tag us on social media!