Blocks, puzzles help kids prep for school and life

By Allison Bond NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Blocks, puzzles and other hands-on toys that have long been mainstays of children’s play are still best at teaching some skills needed for success, according to a research review. Although so-called “screen-based” entertainment – including computers, video games and cell phones – can keep young kids occupied, technology is less effective than more traditional toys in teaching spatial reasoning to preschoolers, the U.S. researchers say. And if they already have those (before they begin school), they are ahead of the curve,” said lead author Brian Verdine, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Delaware in Newark. Spatial reasoning, which is the ability to visualize and manipulate objects as they would appear in space, is important in many math- and science-oriented careers, including engineering, Verdine and his coauthors write in Trends in Neuroscience and Education.