Krinkle Blocks
Finn got many things for her birthday, but besides her new tricycle which I will blog on later, by far the most loved toy is her Krinkle Blocks. (Thank you so much Michelle, Brad and Marlowe – the Elmo-watching is much-reduced since these came into Finn’s life).
At our house we call these Bristle Blocks, because that’s what they were called when I was little. But a quick internet search reveals that Bristle Blocks (made by Playskool) and Battat Bristle Blocks and Krinkle Blocks look EXACTLY the same, even come in standard 113-piece sets and include little figures (which they didn’t have 35 years ago), but are made by different manufacturers, and DON’T fit together.
Bristles or krinkles, whatever. Finn spends hours making “sandcastles,” and even at
two she’s able to stick the blocks together. And because they stick together at many, many different points, the combinations are endless. There are also windows and wheels and people and animals. In many reviews people talk about their 5 year olds and even older kids playing with the sets, so it’s good to know this is one toy that will continue to be used. Oh, they also develop hand-eye coordination, blah blah blah, etc. The real reason to get them is so that rather than “I wanna watch Elmo!” you’ll hear “I wanna make sandcastles!”
Here is one of Finn’s creations which I call “Still Life with Pig” and Finn calls “sandcastle.”
So if Bristles and Battat Bristles and Krinkles are essentially the same, why Krinkle blocks? The answer is very simple: I like the case. It looks cool, which is good because it is situated permanently on the living room sofa, and it’s easy to toss the blocks back in, which is good because by the end of the day we have sandcastles lined up along the fireplace, coffee table and tv stand.