A growing number of educators, scholars, and policy makers agree that play has a crucial role to play in children's social and psychological development, especially in young children. In the England Play Report, research found that play encourages children's creative thinking and independence; develops problem-solving skills and the ability to deal with stress; and helps their physical and mental health. 

Many people would say that any toy can serve an educational purpose of one kind or another. However, we believe that there is a difference between toys that have an incidental educational value and toys that are designed specifically for education. 

Therefore, when we talk about educational toys and games in this article, we are referring to toys that are designed to help children of different ages achieve different educational goals to promote their intellectual, social, emotional and physical development. 

One of the earliest recorded references to educational toys comes from the great Enlightenment philosopher John Locke (1632-1704).  

In 1693, he published Some Thoughts on Education, which is today considered the most influential children's book in England. In this book, Locke presented the revolutionary idea that the way children are raised has nothing to do with God (a major anxiety of parents in the Middle Ages and the Protestant Reformation), but everything to do with education. Locke believed that alphabet blocks would make children's early literacy more efficient. 

Wooden blocks for children were not new in the 19th and 20th centuries, but Locke's assessment of their educational value was. In the following centuries, a number of other European pedagogues developed systematic approaches to the use of play in educational programs, based on the principles of wooden blocks. 

In 1811, the Anglo-Irish writer, inventor and politician Edgeworth described wooden blocks as "rational toys" that could teach children about gravity and physics, as well as spatial relationships.  

Then in 1837 and Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852), German pedagogue and the most famous inventor of the kindergarten, developed his "Froebel Gift" - a set of wooden play toys designed for hands-on learning.  

Froebel hopes that these "gifts," which include objects such as wooden blocks, wooden spheres and cylinders, and soft, colorful balls of wool, will teach children about themselves and the world around them.  

In the decades that followed, Froebel's gifts were considered the best educational tools for toddlers and preschoolers. in his autobiography, the famous 20th century architect and designer Frank Lloyd Wright reflected on their lasting impact on his work "For several years I sat at the little nursery table and played with cubes, spheres and triangles - these smooth wooden maple blocks.' Until today.  

As an idealist, Froebel asserts that his materials can help children understand that different materials can create different things, while also demonstrating the unity of the universe - that opposites can be resolved.  

1693: English philosopher John Locke makes the statement "Dice and toys, with letters on them, to teach children the alphabet through play," which will enhance the experience of children learning to read.   

1798: The book Practical Education refers to blocks, calling them "toys of reason" and saying that their purpose is to teach children about gravity, physics, and spatial relationships.  

1820: S. L. Hill of Brooklyn obtains a patent for "decorated wood" -- a block surface that is painted, embossed, and then another color is added to create multi-colored blocks -- and begins the first known mass production of toy blocks.  

1837: Friedrich Froebel invented the concept of kindergarten and also developed a set of educational toys called "Froebel Gifts", which consisted mainly of building blocks. 

1850: Henry Cole writes a series of children's books under the pseudonym Felix Somerley, one of which is a storybook in The Family Treasury, including a box of terracotta toy blocks and a pamphlet titled Building Pastimes, which contains actual blueprints.

20th century. Throughout the 20th century (and into the 21st), many different types of construction toys were invented and mass-produced, some gaining worldwide fame and inspiring entire subcultures to emerge around them.  

2003: The National Toy Hall of Fame honors ABC blocks in its collection at the Strong Museum with the title of America's Toys of National Importance.  

2014: The world has one more building block toy Click-A-Brick debuted before Christmas.   

A world-famous children's toy, its colorful little bricks have not only inspired children's imagination and creativity with their many building possibilities, but have also spawned two movies and a LEGO theme park. Not only that, but these simple blocks also engage 5-year-olds in creating castles, towns, space stations and anything else they can think of to think creatively. This is the epitome of a toy that teaches and entertains. These features make LEGO one of the icons of the block class of toys.  

The company that made these famous pieced blocks started out as a small store in Denmark, founded in 1932 by master carpenter Kirk Christiansen with the help of his 12-year-old son. The company produced wooden toys, pedals and ironing boards. It wasn't until two years later that the business took the name LEGO, a name derived from the Danish word "LEg GOdt", meaning "fun".  

Over the next few years, the company grew exponentially. From just a handful of employees in the early days, LEGO had grown to 50 employees by 1948. The product line also grew, adding Lego ducks, coat hangers, plastic balls for babies and some wooden blocks.  

In 1947, the company made a huge acquisition, which turned the company upside down and made it world famous and a household name. That year, LEGO bought a plastic injection molding machine that allowed it to mass produce plastic toys. By 1949, LEGO was using this machine to produce about 200 different toys, including patchwork blocks, plastic fish, and plastic dolls. The pieced blocks were the predecessor of today's LEGO blocks.   

In 1953, the patchwork blocks were renamed LEGO blocks. 1957 saw the birth of the interlocking principle of LEGO blocks, and in 1958, the stud and coupling system was patented, adding great stability to the pieces built. And this turned them into the Lego blocks we know today. Also in 1958, Kirk Christiansen died and his son Godtfred became the head of LEGO.  

By the early 1960s, LEGO had gone international, with sales in Sweden, Switzerland, England, France, Belgium, Germany and Lebanon. Over the next decade, LEGO toys were marketed in more countries and came to the United States in 1973.  

In 1964, for the first time, consumers could purchase LEGO sets that included all the parts and instructions to build a particular model. 1969 saw the introduction of a line of large particle blocks for the 5 and under set, with larger blocks for smaller hands. LEGO later introduced themed lines of LEGO. They included Town (1978), Castle (1978), Space (1979), Pirates (1989), Western (1996), Star Wars (1999) and Harry Potter (2001). 1978 saw the introduction of figures with movable arms and legs.  

By 2015, LEGO toys were sold in more than 140 countries. Since the mid-20th century, these tiny plastic bricks have inspired the imaginations of children around the world, and LEGO sets have firmly taken their place on the list of the world's most popular toys.