Skyscraper blocks from Haba

We live next door to construction (that is almost finished thank god!), but our (annoying) soundtrack last summer was the industrial elevator that roared and cranked as it carried the construction workers up and down the building. Since there wasn't a call button, a worker would have to call for "Jose!" to send up the elevator. So for the summer months when we had our windows wide open last year, we'd hear the call for Jose! numerous times a day. This is why the toddler started associating all building construction with Jose! "Look at that building. Maybe Jose built it...Ooh the city, did Jose built that?".

Aside from the Jose! association, she's been calling any cluster of buildings a city. And it's not just buildings, but any group of structures qualifies as a city (a cemetery, for example, is a city). And given that we live in one of the biggest cities of all, I think the skyscraper blocks from Haba (can they do no wrong?) would be pretty cool for her. The set comes with 24 building blocks, trees, people and even a dog. And as with many children's toys, I love that the scale of the people is so off with the buildings (it's just, uh, perspective!)

I love the idea of having many different types of building structures to play with: houses, skyscrapers, etc. Currently her favorite building blocks are Lincoln Logs and as a kid, they were my favorite as well. Now if only I can find blocks to build little brownstones like the ones in our Brooklyn neighborhood...