20 Creative Block Activities for Toddlers

We often hear the term building blocks to express how important it is to be a part of creating something. It means the foundation or the backbone of a structure. And in this sense, block activities for toddlers offer the same thing – a fun and great foundation in teaching your little one essential skills such as fine motor skills, creativity, problem-solving skills, comprehension, and so much more.

Toddlers love to play with colorful blocks. They love all kinds including simple blocks, blocks with characters and colors, and even DIY blocks! Colorful blocks are a favorite among toddlers to engage in playtime. They enjoy playing with different types, from basic blocks to those adorned with characters and varying colors. DIY blocks are also a hit among young children! 

Construction activities for toddlers are a great way to keep preschool-aged children engaged and entertained while also stimulating their sensory and motor skills. These activities allow children to construct and explore with their hands, using tools like hammers and materials like playdough and cardboard. Boys and girls alike can benefit from these types of art and craft projects, which often involve creating structures out of pipe cleaners or building with blocks. Whether you’re looking for a fun new activity to do with your little ones at home or searching for ideas for a daycare or preschool classroom, there are plenty of fantastic construction activities that you can try out!

There are tons of block activities for toddlers. Here are 20 easy, fun, and smart block activities you can enjoy with your little ones!

Counting Blocks While Building Towers

Learning to count can be easier when you do this block activity with your toddlers. All you need are some number mats and plenty of blocks for your child. Have them set up the number of blocks according to the number shown on the mat. You can add variations to this activity by designating a block color for each number or using different materials as your number mat. You can also print numbers on paper or have your child write numbers on paper once they learn how to do that.

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Building Block Maze

Marvel in the creativity of your toddler with this maze-themed building block activity for toddlers! Provide them with plenty of blocks in different shapes, materials, and colors, and watch them create a maze out of all their block pieces. Find a ball – ping-pong balls, small ball toys, or even a ball of paper will do – and then tell them that the objective is to create a maze-like pathway for that ball.

This activity will enhance their creativity and fine motor skills as they try to create the maze without toppling them over along the way. It will also help them learn to be patient and persistent in moments when the maze breaks formation.

Tower Building Contest

Help your toddlers put on their best efforts by giving them a little competition. Pushing their competitive buttons occasionally is healthy as this promotes their drive to always do their best.

In this activity, you can deviate from the usual “longest tower blocks” to something more challenging and exciting for the little ones like “prettiest tower blocks” or “unique” or anything else you can think of that will be interesting, not just for you, but especially for the little ones.

Block Bowling

The fun in building blocks starts when you build them. Then it becomes more satisfying as you see the finished tower. But it can be even more fun when you knock over your tower of blocks!

Playing block bowling with your little ones is a fun way to spend the afternoon. You can do this indoors or if you want to be more adventurous, try it outdoors. After playing several games – building towers and knocking them over with different-sized balls – you can be sure that your little ones will want to do it again the next day!

Spelling with Lego Blocks

Teaching your kids to spell their names is an important lesson in their growth. What better to educate them than through fun activities, right? So, why not let them learn to spell their names using LEGOs!

You can start by showing them how to do it and ultimately leaving them to do it independently. You can provide guides and if they are up to the challenge, have them use one color for each letter.

Measuring with Lego

This block activity for toddlers is another excellent way to teach them how to count. Using blocks as a measuring unit, your child can stack them to match the length of anything they want to measure. They can try measuring their foot or a stuffed teddy bear. Or, if they’re up to the challenge, they can even measure the height of their younger sibling.

They can report this to you by saying, “my foot is 30 blocks long!” This will give them a fundamental idea of how measuring things works, especially when the right age comes for them to start learning basic math.

Of course, you should make sure that they use the same-sized blocks for this activity! Locking LEGO blocks are perfect, so the blocks do not easily fall, especially if they are trying to measure something a bit taller than usual. Hand them over their Legos and see what they will start measuring at home!

Spelling with LEGO Letters

This activity is self-explanatory and a straightforward, great way to help your toddler become more familiar with the alphabet and ultimately learn how to spell basic words.

All you do is assign a letter to a block and then ask your child to identify what letters are written on the blocks. You can slowly ask them to put together the blocks to spell simple words.

Start with 3-letter words and gradually increase the level when you see that your toddlers are ready.

Teaching Symmetry to Preschoolers with LEGO Bricks

Symmetry may sound like a big word for your toddlers to easily understand, but if you teach them this concept through this easy and fun block activity, you can be sure that they will understand how it works.

Using a Lego mat, you can line up a perfect line of Lego pieces in the center to serve as the divider. Then, on one side, create a combination of Lego patterns. The goal for your child is to replicate what you did on one side to the other.

These can be random blocks, or you can create artwork that, once finished, creates a wonderful picture.

For more ideas on how this works, check out Fun Learning For Kids.

LEGO Puzzle Mix and Match

Here’s a unique spin on the usual mix-and-match activity that toddlers love to do.

Print block-sized photos of animals, flowers, cars, or whatever images you think your toddler would be interested in or need to learn about. Then, cut them into equal parts that fit onto two pieces of a LEGO block. Mix them all and ask your toddler to pair up the block that forms the photos.

This activity is easy, fun, simple, inexpensive, and educational! So go ahead and include it in your list of fun activities to do with your little ones.

Simple Block Learning Activity with Shapes & Colors

This block activity is as simple as it gets. You simply draw the outlines of the blocks on a clean piece of paper and then have your little one find the matching pieces. Instruct them to follow the shape, size, and color so that they can also enhance their skills in identifying these factors. This can be a fun activity for learning the shapes as well as their colors.

Fit the Squares Inside a Shape

This activity needs a little preparation time as you would need to cut out small square blocks and then create some fun shapes on a piece of paper, making sure to trace the square blocks, so they are a perfect fit.

The goal is for your toddler to fill in the outlines with the small squares and count how many small squares fit in each of the shapes. This activity will enhance their motor skills and spatial skills, as well as improve their counting skills.

Check out The Activity Mom for the complete guide on creating these block activities for toddlers.

Counting with LEGOs

This activity is a smaller-scale version of counting blocks using number mats while building towers. Here, it can be simpler and can be done indoors with a piece of paper, some LEGO blocks, and markers for writing the numbers on the paper.

The goal is to let your toddler line up the blocks according to the number. You can start by doing it in order (1-10), and when your toddler is ready and familiar enough with numbers, you can jumble the sequence of the numbers or write the numbers in words. This simple activity can be done in plenty of variations and is a fun and engaging way to teach a variety of skills to your child.

Make a LEGO Rainbow

This activity is easy and does not need anything but colorful LEGO blocks. After explaining to your child that the rainbow colors consist of Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet (ROYGBIV), you can have them create their own rainbow using their Lego blocks!

You can provide them with various sizes of Legos so that they can choose whichever they think best makes their rainbow achieve its beautiful arch.

Sorting Blocks Activity

This sorting blocks activity is a simple exercise to help your child enhance various skills. They learn to sort blocks with the same shapes, sizes, or colors.

This is also a great activity to end their playing time, as they sort their blocks into boxes, so they are organized and well-kept after use. Ensure you provide them with storage bins and explain to them where to properly put them once done.

Arenas Made By Wooden Blocks

Let your kids create an arena of their own imagination and design and watch their creative minds build a unique setup. Then, they can use this arena for role-playing games like pilots for a mini airport where the arena is the runway or as a farm where they tend to toy animals and farm crops.

There is no limit to what they can create through this activity!

Build a Road with Building Blocks

Let your kids create their own city of roads through this block activity. All you need is some tape to create the pathways, and the belongs will serve as tunnels, buildings, bridges, and anything else your toddler wants to add to their road.

For more ideas on how to do this activity, check it out on Inner Child Fun.

Tetris

Tetris is a classic game that even adults love to play. It helps keep the brain active as it requires quick thinking and great spatial skills.

You can also start teaching your toddlers about the idea of Tetris through Tetris-shaped blocks. Demonstrate to your little ones that the goal of this game is put the blocks together without leaving any gaps. You can be surprised at how many combinations your toddlers will be able to create as they put together the pieces.

Build a Bridge Using Blocks

Take your block activities to the next level with a more scientific approach to building blocks with your toddlers.

The goal is to help them design a block tower that can hold a can of food. Adding the goal gives them a better sense of direction, and they will try to do what can work to accomplish the goal. Unknowingly, they will be applying scientific concepts such as trial and error and structural design.

Plus, once they achieve the goal, they will feel a sense of fulfillment that will help them remember the activity more and retain the skills they used.

For a more detailed guide to this activity, check out Mama’s Smiles.

Construction Truck Counting

If your kid has a construction truck toy at home and plenty of blocks, give this activity a go! It will help your kids enhance their counting skills.

The activity involves having your toddler scoop the blocks using the construction truck toy. Your little one should dump at least two piles of the blocks. The next step is to have them count how many blocks there are on each pile and then identify which pile has more blocks.

It’s such an easy activity, yet it will surely help keep your child become more interested in learning how to count.

Shadow Match Activity with Building Blocks

Imagine how mesmerized your toddler will be if you teach them how to “draw” using shadows!

All you need is to outline a block tower on a piece of paper, as reflected through its shadow. Then, you take apart the tower and have your child create the outline of the shadow by building the tower on the side.

This can enhance your child’s creativity, as well as their spatial skills. This is best when the sun is up, and you want to play inside your home. But, if your kid wants to do this even when it’s dark outside, you can also use a flashlight.

For more details about this craft, check out Hands On As We Grow.