J is for Jenga Blocks

Do you remember playing Jenga growing up?  I seem to recall spending a New Year's Eve party with the church's youth group, seeing how tall we could build a tower of blocks without it tumbling.   I still had my set when Schnickelfritz was born so I turned it over to him when he reached the building with blocks age.  Trust me when I say he's taken Jenga blocks to a whole new level.  I started buying more sets.  You can't believe how cheap they are to come by--one block gets lost and they end up at a garage sale for a quarter.  We probably have 7 or 8 sets now, some plain and some in primary colors.

Sometimes he uses them for two dimensional art, like this outline of the state of Missouri.

Other times he builds up.  He went through a phase where he'd wath You Tube videos of roller coasters and then build his own--sometimes with the wooden tracks from his Thomas trains and sometimes with Jenga pieces serving as tracks.  Last year he entered a highway interchange phase as you can see below.

He's even created his own Jenga font--letters and numbers, so he can track the contestants and points on his favorite show--Fetch with Ruff Ruffman. 



I can alway's trace Fritz's activities for the day by following the trail of blocks left behind (they usually travel in groups of four).  It's a quiet activity, it encourages imagination,  and I don't have to replace batteries all the time.  Someday if you find out Schnickelfritz has designed the latest, greatest roller coaster at a theme park near you, you'll know it all started with a set of Jenga blocks.

Be sure to check out the other J posts at Ben and Me.