SepToys

The SepToys seven-faced blocks may be three dimensional, but most of what is done with them is pattern making, based on the shape of a single side - most often the trapezoid.

This can be seen in this tweaked down-on view of the above construction, where only the reflectivity gives away that these are not flat trapezoidal tiles.

But there is enough exploitation of their three-dimensionality to make them valid as both pattern play and challenge block play.

They should be great for helping children develop good spatial perception.

There is only one "kind" of block, but it appears in both left- and right-handed, mirror image versions.

Each of the seven faces is different, some with "handedness," some without.

The blocks are accompanied by a sheet with a number of sample designs (or challenges) and there are many more on the SepToys web site - including designs for more than one set.

Good Block Play.

Ball Mosaic

Not blocks, but not far removed from my Parquetry post of a while back. And maybe we can count that nice chunky block of glass that, with its appropriate indent pattern, forms the base of the design. Or we can claim an Ankerstein link, and reference Richter's Meteor, which came in several versions and was shown in various of the old Anchor plans booklets (scroll down to page 18).

I first learned of my glass set, illustrated above, in the Kugelmosaik web site I cited for the Richter sets. I had been using Meteor diagrams (such as those in the Vorlagenheft link for the first set -- and scroll down for an Ankerstein image!) to make fuse bead patterns with Perler and Hama beads, and was googling for more variety. That item mid-right is my newest fuse-bead block, made in counterpoint to the design I had just made in glass.

The Vorlagenheft for the glass set doesn't show blue, so I decided I would substitue blue for green at whim. Since the green is actually a poisionous greenish yellow, whim came early.The white glass balls for the set apparently went missing long ago, with some red and black beads put in the empty compartment. I resubstituted some round pearlized beads of almost the exact size. They all but disappear in the photo, but are quite gaudy in real life.

Not block play in terms of setting blocks one on the other, but certainly not far afield from blocks being arranged esthetically, with the structural elements being repetition and symmetry, rather than stack and span.

The image below shows some earlier examples of fuse-bead blocks from ball mosaic patterns. For my head at least, a similar overcoming of entropy. A satisfactory extension of block play.

Parquetry Blocks

This is a very old toy category, and although perhaps no longer as well known, Parquetry sets are still made and sold.

I played with sets like the Playskool at left when I was in Kindergarten, over fifty years ago, and their descendents are now made by Learning Resources, with the same (thick) block sizes and same sample patterns (on better paper :).

Sets like the large Czech version at upper right are more commonly called Parquetry Tiles because the polished wooden pieces are quite thin. They have a wonderful feel. Similar sets can be found in Seattle stores today, from Haba in Germany.

The sets are great fun for exploring patterns of color and symmetry, with almost universally satisfactory tactile feedback.