Inspiration & Resources

The new school year is kicking off in many areas around the country. Whether you are heading back to the classroom this Fall or continuing to learn at home, we love seeing all the enthusiasm and ne...

Transitioning to a New Normal: Monitoring Children's Mental Wellbeing

With so many children returning to the classroom this Fall, our team feels it's important to highlight the emotions children may experience as we transition to this new normal. Schools and child ca...

Little Changes for a Big Impact: A look at Constructive Playthings Sustainability Initiatives

Constructive Playthings and the US Toy family of brands have offered teachers a wide selection of educational toys and classroom resources since 1953. We have always strived to offer you, our cust...

2021 Our Top Holiday Gift Picks!

The holiday shopping season is in full swing. Have you started your shopping? Our team pulled together our top picks from the 2021 Holiday Gift Guide to help you navigate the endless gift possibil...

Ignite the Imagination with Manipulatives

Manipulatives come in so many different shapes and sizes and offer up a fantastic range of learning opportunities for early childhood development. Maria Cantillana shares her experience with one of...

Bringing Active Play Inside!

In a school setting there comes a time of the year where weather gets colder, equipment is wet or air quality isn’t safe for children. That’s when we bring the fun indoors! I am always looking for...

Implementing a STEAM foundation in Early Childhood Curriculum

Constructive Playthings believes that the cornerstone of early childhood education starts with STEAM. Critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity are the building blocks your students need i...

An Invitation to Create and Explore: Presentation Makes All the Difference

Have you ever looked at materials and thought, "I wish my kids would engage with that but they just don’t!"? You are not alone in that! There are so many amazing materials that can encourage learn...

Little Leaders: Igniting Your Children's Social-Emotional Development

It’s often easy to think about our children learning their basics—to read, to write, to talk–but what about how to become a balanced and emotionally-grounded person? As you probably know, social a...

Fine-tuning those fine-motor skills

Fine-motor skill development is always on the radar within any early childhood education setting. What’s great about this skill set is that most everyday tasks are fantastic ways for children to pr...

Early Childhood Play in Motion

Little minds are constantly gathering information as they play, and one of the best ways to learn is through play in motion! We easily think of activities that involve physical movement – from jump...

Get Outside and Play in Early Childhood

Do you remember your parents kicking you outside during the summer to go run around the neighborhood? You’d come home at the end of the day sunkissed, a little bit sticky, and maybe even covered i...

Constructive Playthings Customer Favorites: Legacy Items

It’s funny how classics stand the test of time . . . from movies, and books, and yes, even educational resources! Almost 70 years ago, Constructive Playthings was founded on creating unique, educat...

Back to School in an Early Childhood Center

Back to school season is in full swing and we are excited to see what you all have planned for the new school year! The creativity and enthusiasm we witness from our educational leaders is overwhel...

A Whole New Day in Dramatic Play!

Often when we think of dramatic play in a classroom setting, dress-up centers and play kitchens quickly come to mind. But there are so many opportunities to work dramatic play into your learning en...

Developing Early Childhood Literacy Skills

Research shows that developing strong early childhood literacy skills actually impact a child’s ability to succeed academically, graduate on time, and even enhance overall productivity as an adult....

Building Confidence in Young Children through Active Play

As educators and parents, we understand how important self confidence is in a child’s development. We strive to have a healthy self esteem ourselves to overcome challenges, accomplish our goals, an...

2022 Top Holiday Gift Picks

It's that time of year again! The season of giving. To simplify your shopping this year, we found our customer favorites within our Holiday Gift Guide to help you navigate the endless gift possibi...

Wooden Unit Block Play: Bringing the Classic Resource Back into Play

It is well known the benefits block play brings to our early childhood programs, from encouraging mathematical skills, critical thinking, creativity, and even literacy! Blocks offer so many opportu...

Open-Ended Play

One of our favorite types of play at Constructive Playthings is open-ended play. Not only does it offer countless learning opportunities, but it is just so easy to execute and incredibly valuable i...