Beginner B Beech

The Beginner Kit is an excellent kit for children up to 4ish.  At this age, children are able to stack blocks on top of one another, make towers, and enjoy seeing them fall over.  They are able to understand abstraction a good deal better, and will recognize that differently shaped triangles are still triangles.  They love to play with their parents and make things together.  They are not yet ready to copy most pictures or to understand how a building might be assembled.  Left to ruminate, however, they will sometimes construct amusing things, nearly inscrutable to adults, but hilarious when they are described by children and usually abstracting an element that an adult wouldn't ordinarily consider.  

The hand in the picture is a prop, adult, life size and is included to provide a sense of scale (doesn't come in the kit.   We invited PurrBagg the Cat to sit there, but it was a no-go.  The kit comes with a CD-ROM containing pictures of famous buildings and a mesh produce bag for storing the blocks. By clicking "List of Pieces" on the previous page you can see a list of the contents.  If there are particular shapes that you would like to add, you can find these on the "Open Stock" page.

 Our blocks are completely unfinished.  They are too large to pose a choking hazard and satisfy the CPSC rules for children under the age of three.  The blocks are sanded maple, and children can gum them without fear of chemical finishes or oils.  Germs are another matter.  Parents will be wise to keep them away from dogs as they enjoy chewing them.  They may be cleaned with a damp sponge or sanded with a fine sandpaper, but they shouldn't be allowed to soak as they will absorb water.