Picture block | alphabet block:Uncle Sam's Naval A.B.C. & Picture Blocks: U.S.Flag Ship Chicago & U.S.Battle Ship Massachusetts

Children are always learning, in the classroom and in the playroom. Today, educational television programs and video games, such as "Dora the Explorer" and "Math Blaster," supplement in-school activities. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, before such technologies became available, toy makers endeavored to produce toys with educational value. Alphabet blocks promoted literacy. Building blocks helped develop motor skills. Play sets encouraged imaginative play. Additionally, 19th-century blocks, puzzles, and games often had moralistic or religious themes, combining the spatial and intellectual elements inherent to these toys with social instruction. Though children today have educational toys and games that far exceed their predecessors in technological sophistication, the value of simple blocks and play sets remains unchanged.