Peapods Favorite #7: Wooden Unit Blocks by BEKA - Made in Minnesota

Peapods Favorites is our continuing series about our all-time favorite toys. Keep and an eye on facebook  and Pinterest for more favorites through the holiday season!  

There's one toy that's been front and center in our living room for 15 years. One toy that's been played with by 3 kids (soon to be a fourth!) from ages 1 to over 12. It's our set of BEKA maple unit blocks. Since we bought them 15 years ago, they've never been been in storage but have always been at the ready for building towers, roads, bridges, forts, marble runs, arches, and a hundred other creations. Pound for pound and dollar for dollar, BEKA's maple unit blocks are the best toy we've ever owned.

BEKA blocks are made in St. Paul, Minnesota from solid maple. Like many of our favorite toys, we've been carrying BEKA products since we first opened in 1999. We also carry BEKA train tables and easels.

Of course, our kids aren't alone in their love of simple wooden blocks. Wooden blocks have been a childhood favorite for centuries. Unit blocks were the core of the original Kindergarten curriculum formulated by Frederich Froebel and were praised by Maria Montessori, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Robert Louis Stevenson, who wrote:

What are you able to build with your blocks?
Castles and palaces, temples and docks.
Rain may keep raining, and others go roam,
But I can be happy and building at home. 

We offer BEKA blocks in three different sets: Starter Unit Blocks, Standard Unit Blocks, and Deluxe Unit Blocks. The differences between the sets are in the number of blocks and the variety of shapes; the Standard Set is probably the best place to start your block collection.

We give our thanks to BEKA and the entire Kreisman family for their wonderful toys and for working with us for so many great years. They really are a Peapods favorite!