Bev Bos was one of my favorite Early Childhood Education professionals. I went to several of her workshops, own several of her books and routinely sang/sing many of the songs on her CDs –when I first started purchasing them they came as cassette tapes…kind of dating myself huh?!
I was thinking again about the instinctive nature of young children’s drive to learn—through play—and was reminded of one of Bev Bos’ songs: Build It Up*
The lyrics are simple enough:
Build it up and knock it down and build it up again.
Knock it down and build it up and knock it down again!
Build it up and knock it down and build it up again.
Knock it down and build it up and knock it down again!
Teach this to your little one and they’ll be singing it as they build up with (and probably knock down) these colorful, Wooden Rainbow Stacking Boxes by Grimm.
(*Find Build It Up on We’ve Been Waiting for You)
Wooden Rainbow Stacking Boxes by Grimm
The set consists of 6 wooden boxes in an array of colors. The largest box is 6” square; the smallest 2.5”. The manufacturer says the toy is appropriate for children 3 years old and older. I’m not sure why that would be unless they’re worried younger children might involuntarily whack themselves with one of the boxes. None of the boxes would present a choking hazard and there are no small pieces associated with the boxes. One other consideration—perhaps they’re concerned younger kidlets wouldn’t have the the physical size and/or coordination to stack the boxes to their ultimate height. When the boxes are arranged on top of one another, the stack is almost 27” high….and that IS kind of high for a toddler!
But back to why this is a toy you should be interested in….
The best toys are ones that can be used in multiple ways and so can these being versatile to stack, nest, fill, sort, add to other play areas as accessories as well as serve as a way to organize items. Similar to The First Years’ Stacking Cups, theses wooden boxes lend themselves to many play (ie., learning) opportunities:
Your kidlet can:
●Build, stacking the boxes one on top of another; side-by-side; and/or any combination
●Use the boxes to sort items by color
●Use the boxes to sort items by size
Playing with the boxes will develop their:
●Eye-hand coordination
●Motor Skills
●Problem-solving skills
In addition, Grimms’ wooden rainbow stacking boxes allows your child to tap into their imaginations and let their creative juices flow, all the while developing math and science awareness/skills.
Grimm’s Wooden Rainbow Stacking Boxes gets my enthusiastic PLAY ON stamp of approval! Besides all the reasons above, here are some more!
Pros:
●Well-made, with sustainable wood and using water-based, non-toxic dyes or stains
●Open-ended toy
●Addresses multiple developmental areas
●Can be combined with other sets
●Beautiful, rainbow color pattern
●Storage—nest them or put things inside to store!
Cons:
●PRICE! These wooden boxes are very expensive. There is an alternative set with a natural finish which is notably cheaper, but I think the vibrant colors of this set—and what you can do with them—make the added cost worth it.
Grimm’s Wooden Rainbow Stacking Boxes challenges kidlets to think and use their imaginations to take their play into new and different ways. A lot of Bev Bos’ songs are meant to be springboards for children to suggest ideas for creating more verses and extending the song. Build It Up is no exception!
———- ASK: How could you add a verse to Build It Up that mentions or uses the boxes in some way?
Yours in Play!
Teacher Karen
ps. Be sure to send me any new verses!