At Petit Menhir, we are naturally fond of building set, and more particularly of educational wooden games. But what are the concrete educational and pedagogical benefits that these types of activities have on our little ones?

In this article, discover why these rather simple toys have become indispensable for acquiring the skills necessary for optimal child development, and also for having great family time!

For child development

Building sets allow children to develop an almost infinite number of skills that will serve them forever. Here are some of the main ones:

Fine motor skills

The goal of a building set is fairly simple: place pieces on top of each other to build a structure that can take many different shapes. Children must manipulate pieces with their hands, feel them, grasp them and try to place them on top of the previous one.

This involves the grasping mechanism, that is the action of grasping or gripping an object between the fingers. By doing this, children automatically develop the fine movement skills that are essential for everyday life. These skills will serve them throughout their lives!

Concentration

Putting pieces of a building set on top of each other is not that easy! The child, young or old, will need to be patient and focused so that the piece does not fall off as soon as it is placed on top of the previous one. He or she must study the angle and surface of the two pieces that will come into contact to ensure that the construction holds and can continue its ascent. The child will have to focus on one thing at a time to achieve the goal successfully. Again, this is a skill that will be useful to the child in many aspects of their adult life.

Reasoning Skills

By playing with building sets, the child will develop a wide range of reasoning skills, particularly the following:

• Logic: if I put this piece on top of this one, will I be able to make the building stand up without it collapsing? These are the types of questions that children will have to face when playing with building sets. Logic skills are put to the test and children will develop them while making constructions as high and original as possible.
• Observation: to build the construction, the child will have to carefully observe the pieces that will come into contact to determine if they will fit on top of each other. This observation skill is essential in a variety of everyday tasks, so it is worth developing it from an early age.

To experiment and develop through play

At Petit Menhir, we believe that it is important to prepare our children from an early age so that they are able to calmly approach the difficulties and obstacles that may arise in their path at a given moment. And what better way to prepare them than through discovery and play?

Building sets are thus a great way for children to discover the world around them, and to go through the different stages that we all encounter at some point in our lives:

• Touching ⤵️
• Analyzing⤵️
• Trying⤵️
• Failing⤵️
• Understanding⤵️
• Trying again⤵️
• Succeeding 🙌🏻

The child will thus begin by feeling his way through some of the game's mechanics, then try to build simple constructions, and when he has experimented enough and repeated certain mistakes he will be able to really progress and manage to build towers of increasing height. This experimentation through play will allow him to feel proud of himself, build his self-confidence and develop in a general way.

To keep children away from screens

One of the main advantages of building sets is that they allow our children to practice a playful and educational activity away from screens. Screens are not harmful per se, but their overuse can have harmful consequences on the development of children. This is why they must be made available to our children sparingly.

Limit the impact of flash lights and electronic noise

When children are exposed to screens, they are exposed to unnatural sound and visual stimuli that can affect their cognitive abilities, especially memory and concentration. Screen overuse can also lead to poor emotional and behavioral control, including aggressivity.

In contrast, physical activities and free play, such as building sets, will promote optimal development for children and enable them to acquire many of the skills previously discussed.

Improve spatial awareness skills

Screens are two-dimensional and do not allow for the development of the visual and spatial skills children need, such as spatial awareness. 

The wooden building set Petit Menhir can be used for this very specific educational purpose, based on the cards of the teacher LilouTeach specially designed in partnership with Petit Menhir. The aim is for the children to reproduce the figures created by LilouTeach and this will improve their ability to find their way in space. Younger children will use the flat figures, while more experienced players can start with the stacked figures and the front and top views. Feel free to download these cards if you haven't already!

The wooden game, the king of building sets

Building sets can be made with pieces of many different materials. But which kind of building set should you choose? Because of its natural, sustainable and eco-responsible aspects, it is obviously the wooden game that should be preferred!

For its natural aspect

Wooden toys have an advantage over plastic toys: they are natural and soft to the touch. The sounds will also be much softer than those of building sets made from plastic or synthetic materials.

For its durability

Wooden toys are undeniably stronger and more durable than plastic toys. More resistant to breakage and to the numerous manipulations of children, they have an almost infinite life span and can be passed on from generation to generation. They will make all brothers and sisters happy and create intergenerational memories.

For its eco-responsibility

A wooden game is obviously more eco-friendly than a plastic one, especially if it is produced from wood with the FSC label. This guarantees that the forests are managed in a sustainable manner. This is an important point to respect when choosing the wooden building set you want to offer to your children!

Petit Menhir, the ideal building set

The Petit Menhir wooden game meets all the criteria for a successful building set. It is 100% eco-responsible since it is made from wood from sustainably managed forests, and it can accompany children in their development and allow them to acquire all the skills they need to grow up in an optimal way.

The challenges offered will allow children to develop their fine motor skills, their patience, their concentration, as well as an infinite number of other skills. By offering this game, we definitely want to help parents make their children learn while having fun! And whatever the age of the children, they will always find a way to progress thanks to the fun and educative cards of LilouTeach and CoconSchooling.

Now it's time for the challenges!