Teaching Rooney How to Build Things

When I was a kid, I loved building things with toys like Legos, Tinker Toys, Erector Sets and Lincoln Logs. I had a pretty short attention span so nothing really lasted, but I have fond memories of trying to use the toys I had to make things I saw in my mind. As a father, I've longed for the day to build something with Rooney. To help expand her imagination and see things in a whole new light. Along with my longing for teaching her how to build things, I'm learning patience myself.

She recently became an 18-month-old. And while I use the cliche that now is the funnest age, Rooney is seriously so fun right now. Even though she's started throwing tantrums in public. Which seems to concern others more than it does us. One guy even asked if she was OK. Thanks for your concern, dude, she's a toddler...

Back to building things. As much as I want to build things with her, she's pretty much in a seek-and-destroy phase right now. We recently got a set of wood blocks courtesy of Back to Blocks. They are super awesome and it's the only "toy" I've wanted to get her for quite some time. Simple and classic and they feed the imagination. Because Rooney is super into destroying things right now, we play the game of How many blocks can daddy stack before Rooney knocks them over? One time when she wasn't looking, I managed to stack them all...

Regardless, it's still a lot of fun. She even likes to pick them up when we're all done. I like that blocks allow children to make them into something that we might not have thought of. For instance, as Rooney started playing with the blocks, the one thing she does love to do (besides tumble my creations) is put the round peg into the round hole. This is great cognitive learning and I'm always cheering for her when she gets it. She'll also ask for help when she wants it taken apart and it's too stuck for her to do on her own. Then she started holding the block end up to her mouth and shaking her hips, and it took me awhile to figure out what she was doing. Microphone! She was singing and dancing. Super cute.

Here are a couple of Vines of Rooney enjoying her new blocks.

What are some fun activities you like to do (or hope to do) with your toddlers?