I have such vivid memories of being a child, playing with Stickle Bricks. I can literally feel them in my hands while I sat on the floor in my childhood bedroom, building my own little spikey-world. So when this little box of Stickle Bricks came to the door (“for the children”) I was instantly transported back and the nostalgia was strong because the set was identical to the one I had as a child.
Ruben, my 3.5 year old, was so excited to see the Stickle Bricks. He told me that they have them at nursery and he loves playing with them. We tipped them out and I immediately started building the little headless people bodies, while my transport-fanatic son immediately made a car for them.
They really are so versatile and unlike any other building block. Ruben was really confident with them, but my 1.5 year old Indiana has never enjoyed a Stickle Brick before and of course he had to get in on the action too. This is such a great way to work on fine motor skills and my little Indie really focussed on pushing two brick together. We then used the flat platform to make a face together, and I got Indie to point to the parts of the face. Where my children saw the possibilities of endless building worlds, I saw learning opportunities – Shapes, colour matching, dexterity. It’s no wonder they prefer to play with Daddy!
There are so many different types of bricks in the Fun Tub, including the little heads (which literally have not changed since the 90s! I remember weirdly having a crush on the brunette guy…) and wheels which are perfect for sparking imaginations and getting creative. I loved seeing how Ruben played with them in a different way than I had, and them being so open-ended meant that there was nothing prescribed about how to play. They’re my favourite types of toys for the boys. The little round bricks could become coins in a pretend shop, we could create a caravan using the wheels and rectangles, we could do some role-play with the characters.
I’ll be honest, I’m not actually very good at playing. I’m good at choosing toys, reading books and worrying endlessly about them, but playing is something I find it really hard to do. However, I played with the Stickle Bricks with my boys for ages – Steven had to tear us all away for dinner. I think they’re going to become a real family favourite in the Wright household.
Did you play with Stickle Bricks?