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Children's Blocks -Details
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Here are some answers to FAQs about our Toy Blocks
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The Ocarina Hall o' Fame
(About as wide as a kitchen table)
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Genuine
school size blocks are hard to find in toy stores. There are
canisters of tiny little blocks, some of them with
interesting international themes or painted in bright
colors, but not jumbo blocks, the kind you had when you were
a kid. These are a wonderful toy and they will last
forever but alas, they've disappeared from most toy stores.
If you're tired of buying cheap toys, and want something
that will last for many years, this is the place to come. We
sell blocks in balanced kits, we sell booster kits for those
that want to enlarge an existing set, and we sell open stock
for those wanting specific pieces. |
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I think that savvy parents or grandparents are willing to
pay for this kind of enduring quality. Our rock maple blocks are
made by us from selected Michigan and Indiana hardwoods and are
guaranteed for life. We carefully check our blocks at every step
of the process of manufacturing them and eliminate those that are
defective.
We also import and sell European Beech blocks for those seeking a
high quality european product, and we import and sell Birch blocks from
China for those seeking an economy block.
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Our premium quality blocks (all firsts) are made of
Hard Maple in our plant in Indiana. Our first and
seconds are made of identical material, but suffer from
problems of color (only).
Blocks don't work very well unless the are cut according to
the same standard. Our basic unit block is
exactly 1-3/8 by 2-3/4 by 5-1/2 and all of our 89 other shapes: triangles,
arches, planks, ramps, finials, facades, bridge arches, etc. are an exact
fraction or multiple of this size. This is the generally accepted
scale for schools, preschools, and kindergartens. Blocks come in
other sizes, but these hefty blocks are the common standard in school
settings.
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Some really
old blocks
"Blocks don't work
very well unless they are cut according to the same standard" |
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Storage
We pack our blocks in cardboard boxes and include misprinted produce bags for storage. We've
pondered a block
wagon/box,
but customers find that a small bookcase is the right solution. An
alternative is a rolling plastic toy-cart from Wal-Mart. Put the
blocks in a bag, and put the bag in the
cart. Kid's tell us that
you have to see through the bag, or you can't find the pieces you
want. So bags it is. At first we saved used bags from the
Onion Stomp, but then we discovered we could get misprints at an
economical price.
Too Many Onions
Anyway, there we were
selling blocks in old onion bags and we were getting tired
of all the onions. Barbecued Onions, Onion a l'orange, Onion fritters,
Onion flavored Yogurt . . . Got Onions? (Elsewhere I
list a number of recipes that use Onions).
Happily I found the address of the bag company and they sold me a lot of
misprints without requiring me to buy the onions. Now, all
of my blocks come in a mesh bag that says something like, "Oisters,"
or" Onyons"
or "Cabages." You can find a
fancier form of storage,
but it isn't necessary because the onion bags work better and if you put one over your head you can pretend
you're wearing a gilly suit.
Dad:
"Where's Billy? It's time to go to the dentist and
have his teeth cleaned!"
Mom: "I don't know! Nothing here except that bag of
Oisters!"
Dad: "Hey! That's not how you spell Oysters!
Something fishy is going on here!"
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Some Technical Details
If you plan to add to an existing set of blocks, measure them
first.
If you need help call us toll-free at 1-877606-4374
Size
Our
blocks are cut on a 1-3/8 inch modulus: the common standard for school
size blocks. The rectangles are 1-3/8 inch thick by 2-3/4,
5-1/2, 11, and 22 inches long. The standard Unit Block is the
mid-sized rectangle which is 1-3/8 by 2-3/4 by 5-1/2 inches.
Blocks are made in many different sizes, but this is the most common
standard. Kits include Rectangles, Triangles, Road Planks, Roof
Planks, Arches, Columns, and various other shapes. In addition to
Blocks, kits contain Square Columns, Round Columns, Wide Planks, and
Narrow Planks. All of the
dimensions of these pieces are some multiple of the basic metric; this
is what lends Unit Blocks their usefulness as an educational toy.
Profiles
Blocks are 1-3/8
by 2-3/4 in cross section(  ).
Square columns are 1-3/8 by 1-3/8 in
cross section (  ).
Road Planks are 11/16 by 2-3/4 in cross
section (  ).
Roof Planks are 11/16 by 1-3/8 in cross section (  ).
All of these profiles are chopped to lengths of 1-3/8, 2-3/4, 5-1/2, 11,
and 22 inches.
Materials
Maple is one of North America's premier hardwoods.
It varies in color from
almost white to a reddish brown, and is noted for varying patterns such
as Curly Maple or Tiger Maple. Its fine grain makes it virtually
splinter free and it is very hard which prevents dents and damage from
rough play. It may be white or tan, or it may be white and tan together. This is the block
for the customer that wants traditional hardwood blocks. The
blocks we manufacture are made from
high quality, knot free, kiln dried Michigan
and Indiana Maple and we inspect each block individually for flaws
and defects. Blocks are rounded on the long edges and sanded
and softened on the ends and corners. Tolerances are within .01
inches. Our blocks are guaranteed against cracking or checking and
we will replace defective blocks free of charge.
Wear and Tear
The initial pleasure for most children
being the assembly of towers that provide a satisfying crash when they
collapse, all blocks suffer from rough treatment, but Maple Blocks will
shrug off the abuse that would destroy Pine or other economy woods.
Moreover, children play with blocks for many years, and a good set has
to survive both time and siblings (not to mention probate). Our blocks are almost indestructible and will last for
generations (as you may already know if you are giving away your
childhood blocks to someone you love).
Finish
Our blocks are carefully sanded, and are unfinished, with
rounded edges and corners. We avoid oil finishes or painted blocks because younger
children tend to put blocks in their mouths and some finishes are toxic.
All our blocks are unfinished and completely free of
chemicals, paint or insecticides. The blocks are the same size and
the contents of the kits are identical.
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A Good Set
We group our customers into
"lumpers" and "splitters." Lumpers are
mostly interested in rectangular blocks of large size; Splitters
are interested in lots of shapes. There are virtues to both ways
of thinking, but no kit can do both of these things except a large one. It is true that children like to build things out of
rectangles early on, and there are never enough of them. A lot of
kids also enjoy the very biggest pieces like the 22 inch rectangles (this is the child's equivalent of owning a
Humvee).
Unfortunately, these pieces have somewhat limited utility. A child
can always combine smaller blocks to make larger ones, but not the
other way around.
The smaller pieces are
essential for building anything more complicated than a box or a wall. Too
many simple rectangles, and everything looks like Stalinist apartment
buildings. You
can't build fancy stuff without columns,
triangles, arches, finials and the like. Road planks and roof planks are essential
for buildings as blocks are generally unsuitable for topping boxes (A
skyscraper is a box on top of a box on top of a box with a tower on top
of that). Roads and intersections are needed for building highways
for matchbox cars and the like. Small pieces are also essential
for solving the "lag" problem, where the overlap between
pieces demands a filler of suitable size. Finally, the very best
lesson for small children is learning the additive nature of the shapes - no
variety, no lesson.
We make sets for both kinds of
customer. Our "A" Kits generally have additional small pieces; our
"B" kits are chunkier and narrower in range.
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Safety
As with any toy, children should occasionally
be monitored for unsafe practices. The most serious of these
consist in throwing the blocks at others or hitting pets or furniture
with them as with a club. Round
blocks such as columns should be put away to avoid accidental
falls. Bags
shouldn't be placed over the head (jokes above notwithstanding).
Blocks should occasionally be checked for splinters, but splinters are a
very rare hazard. New blocks may have nibs or frass at the edges,
but this is harmless and will soon fall off. Broken blocks should be
thrown away (and I will supply a new one free of charge). Our blocks
are all too large to pose a choking hazard and there are no little
pieces to twist off that could potentially become a hazard. Our
blocks are unfinished wood. I am always interested in feedback on
these matters.
Questions? -
1-877-606-4374 (toll free)
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