“Are we there yet?” As children, we’ve asked our parents this question countless times during summer vacations. And as parents and brothers or sisters, we’ve heard our younger siblings ask the same question over and over again. That’s because a child’s attention span is much shorter than an adult’s, or even a teenager’s.

You’ve probably noticed that your child even has a short attention span while doing an activity that is by nature fun: playing. Your child will have a ball playing with giant toy building blocks, which are as sturdy as a chi ceramic flat iron. To keep your youngster engaged, you can use several fun activities to build upon your child’s physical and mental development:

• Patterning. Children often duplicate the words they hear and the actions they see. This activity uses that tendency of children, in their learning and development. Patterning can be done with a couple of children; or with parent, teacher, etc., and a child or children. To begin with, a child creates a structure using blocks of different colors, shapes and sizes; or one with blocks having an identical color. Afterwards, the other child must use the giant building blocks to create a structure that mirrors the other child’s structure.

In a variation of this activity, the adult teacher, parent, etc. creates a structure using the giant building blocks, and then the children must pattern their own structures, after the adult’s. The key is for the first structures to be as easy to create as using a chi GF1538. The structures should gradually become more challenging, but not too difficult that the child gives up in frustration.

• Props. Your child can use giant toy building blocks to create as many props as he or she can imagine. Guide them in creating a restaurant; hospital; post office; or a beauty parlor, where they watch a beautician use a chi turbo 1". Or use bandanas, cowboy hats, and stick horses to create the child’s own imaginary ranch. Or create structures such as bridges, towers, and skyscrapers, where their favorite superheroes can save the day. If your child can imagine it, it can be built!

• Foundations. This activity requires your child to use logical thinking, a skill that is as important in building bridges with building blocks, as using a CHI Ceramic Flat Iron (original model) every morning. Ask your kids to create a foundation, by first building a base using the largest building blocks. Then ask them to stack the smaller blocks on top of the larger blocks, tracking how many levels they build until the structure tips over.

Next, have the children use smaller blocks to create a base, and then stack larger blocks on top of them. Again, track the maximum height of the foundation, before the structure topples. The objective of this activity is for the children to realize that it is wiser to create a base with the larger blocks, which are as sturdy as a chi turbo 1".

• Sorting. This activity is very basic, yet effective for very young children. Have them sort blocks by their different colors, sizes, and shapes. As a variation, blindfold the child and then have them sort by size and shape.

As a child develops, the world becomes an increasingly more fascinating place. So the goal of the parent or educator is to ensure that the child doesn’t become bored in this process. Fortunately, giant building blocks are as sturdy and versatile as a chi GF1538. The number of possible activities that can be used to nurture the child’s development is only limited by what one’s imagination can create!