Melissa & Doug Beginners Pattern Blocks

Work on manual dexterity, motor planning, body awareness, tactile perception, visual discrimination, visual closure, visual form constancy, spatial relations, figure ground, eye-hand coordination, attention, recognition of shapes and shape names, play and leisure exploration and participation

In the box: 5 pattern boards (10 scenes), 30 shape pieces

This activity is simpler than many other pattern block activity kits and may be a good place to introduce pattern piece activities. This is why I say that:

• The bigger pieces may be easier to handle than the smaller pieces. 
• The pieces are laid directly onto a picture without having to follow a pattern card.
• The pieces are laid into a slightly hollowed out hole the same shape as the piece, less chance of moving around.
• There are very few pieces per picture.

Holes where pieces go.

Like most Melissa & Doug toys, the wooden pieces are well constructed, smooth, and brightly colored. There is one picture on each side of each board. The pictures are kid-oriented and include a ship, dog, bird, train, house, butterfly, kite, flowers, fire engine, fish. Pictures take from 3 to 6 pieces each. The piece shapes are circle, rectangle, triangle, oval, and square. Several pictures can be made at once because there are so many pieces. Boards are 9 1/2" x 7". Yippee, this one has a lid.

Try this:

• Play with the different pieces before making the pictures and point out the similarities and differences. Call pieces by their geometric shape name.
• Give the individual one piece at a time and name the parts of the picture, such as this is the tail, this is the wing, this is the window etc.
• Use consistent directional language as you work, such as this fin is on top of the fish.
• Hand the individual a piece that is not in the correct orientation so that he will have to adjust it.
• Place only the pieces for the picture in front of the beginner. As skills improve, ask the individual to find all the needed pieces from a group of pieces.

If you are interested in purchasing this item or just want more information, click on the image below.