A unit block is a type of standardized wooden

toy block Toy blocks (also building bricks, building blocks, or simply blocks) are wooden, plastic, or foam pieces of various shapes (cube, cylinder, arch etc.) and colors that are used as construction toys. Sometimes, toy blocks depict letters of the alp ...

for children. Known also as standard unit blocks or kindergarten blocks, these building blocks are common in

preschool A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school ...

s and some

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

classrooms in the United States.

Sizes

A unit block is 5.5 inches long, 2.75 inches wide, and 1.375 inches thick, giving the dimensions a 1:2:4 ratio. Larger pieces include the double (11 inches long) and quadruple (22 inches long) sizes. Smaller sizes are made in various

fractions A fraction (from la, fractus, "broken") represents a part of a whole or, more generally, any number of equal parts. When spoken in everyday English, a fraction describes how many parts of a certain size there are, for example, one-half, eight ...

of the standard unit.

History

The unit block principle was popularized by educator Caroline Pratt in the early 1900s. Pratt based her blocks on a similar but larger-scale block system designed by educator

Patty Hill Patty Smith Hill (March 27, 1868 – May 25, 1946)Snyder, Agnes. ''Dauntless Women in Childhood Education, 1856–1931.'' 1972. Washington, D.C.: Association for Childhood Education International. p. 233-270. was an American composer and teacher w ...

, a follower of

Friedrich Fröbel Friedrich Wilhelm August Fröbel or Froebel (; 21 April 1782 – 21 June 1852) was a German pedagogue, a student of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, who laid the foundation for modern education based on the recognition that children have unique need ...

, the originator of kindergarten education. Fröbel's series of 20 age-calibrated educational "gifts" had included a set of eight blocks, sized ½ by 1 by 2 inches, or a 1:2:4 ratio, which could be formed into a cube. She founded the City and Country School in 1914 in New York City.City and Country School Mission/Philosophy
/ref> In the 1970s, under license from the school, a version of the blocks was sold by a company called

Childcraft ''Childcraft'' is a multi-volume illustrated anthology for children, which originated in 1934. Origin and description The ''Childcraft'' series was originally created in 1934 by W. F. Quarrie & Company, then publishers of the '' World Book'' en ...

Wood

Unit blocks vary in price according to the wood used and the manufacturer.

Maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

blocks (the original wood put forth by Pratt) are more expensive than

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

, which in turn are more expensive than

rubberwood Rubberwood is a light-colored medium-density tropical hardwood obtained from the Pará rubber tree (''Hevea brasiliensis''), usually from trees grown in rubber plantations. Rubberwood is commonly advertised as an "environmentally friendly" wood, ...

References

External links

City and Country School

List Of Educational Toys
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unit Block Construction toys Educational toys Early childhood education materials Wooden toys

Sizes

History

Wood

See also

References

External links