Parenting Science posted an article titled Toy Blocks and Construction Toys: A Guide For The Science Minded. This one has references and tips on how to get the most out of your block play.
The American Journal Of Play (for those of you who like research articles) has an article titled Building Blocks and Cognitive Building Blocks: Playing To Know The World Mathematically. It includes ways on how parents can support block play and learning (play with your kids!).
Block play is a great way to build language - provided you are on the floor playing with your child. There is a lot of vocabulary from concepts (big/little, long/short, etc), prepositions (front, back, top, under, next to), Wh- questions, and more. Blocks aren't vintage toys - they are STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) toys. Our preschool kids love to play with them. Plastic, wooden, cardboard, painted or not, blocks are fun.
