Open ended toys are the best! They help your kids think outside the box and play creatively. I’m always on the lookout for high-quality toys to add to the playroom. So when the opportunity to review Brain Blox Wooden Building Planks from Brain Blox, the kids and I eagerly awaited their arrival.
They arrived in a box with the Fun Family Chess set from the same company. We received a box with 200 wooden planks, an idea/direction book, and a red drawstring carrying bag.
The kids didn’t waste anytime seeing what the planks were like.
What Are Brain Blox Wooden Building Planks?
Like the name suggests, these are wooden planks. You can stack them, build with them, and use them as props for play.
As you can see in the picture above, these are very versatile. The kids dumped them out and started building right away.
A few of the older kids used the idea book, while the younger kids just built whatever.
A good time was had by all, even cousin Cora!
How Did We Use These Planks?
My kids have done so many things with the Brain Blox Wooden Building Planks since their arrival. Almost everyday, someone picks them for their Quiet Time activity.
They build elaborate houses or see how many they can make spiral. They make barns for their small plastic animal toys or roads to drive toy cars on.
Integrating Building Planks into Our Homeschool
We’ve also used the planks in our homeschool. They are the perfect size for my young learners to use as manipulative sin math. We’ve added them and subtracted them. They’ve been counted and used to help solve word problems.
The kids have worked together to build items from history (like a pyramid) and from books we are reading (like Laura Ingalls Wilder’s house or a robot like the one Henry Huggin’s friend is building.)
My younger kids used the planks to practice forming letters as I called them out.
They truly are versatile for both learning and play!
What Some of My Kids Thought About Brain Blox Wooden Building Planks
Since my kids used these a ton, I wanted to share their thoughts. Here are some thoughts from my kids about what they like best about them and what their favorite thing to build was.
Jeffrey (age 10): They’re fun. I liked building the robot best.
Ellie (age 9): I like that they’re quiet. I really like building the spiral tower, it’s very fun until it smashes down.
Sydney (age 7): I like that you can build whatever you want. My favorite thing to build was a house.
Simon (age 6): They’re super cool. I tried to build a train all by myself and it was so cool.
Brynna (age 4): The book tells you stuff thy you can make and you can find something you love to build. I built a house all by myself with nobody helping me.
Final Thoughts
These building planks were definitely a hit in our house, and hold up well to lots and lots and lots of play.
The carrying sack makes it easy to clean up and helps keep them from ending up scattered all over the house.
They’d make a fun gift for kids who enjoy creative free play and construction type play.
To learn more and see how other homeschooling families used these planks, click on the banner below.
