Learning Activity: Pattern Blocks

Shrade loves this set of pattern blocks.  One of our friends gave us a bunch of fun toys and this was in the box.  There are 16 blocks that are all different shapes: star, pentagon, hexagon, diamond, circle, heart, rectangle, square, triangle, heart, parallelogram, quatrafoil, octagon, right triangle, half circle and oval.  There are four colors: red, blue, yellow and green.  Shrade has just discovered how to slide the shapes into the openings on the box.  It's really incredible all the fun ways we can use this for learning.  Shrade spends hours playing with these blocks.

Just to name a few:
*stacking
*colors
*shapes
*counting

If you have other ideas of how we can use these for learning, please make a comment.  I love to get new ideas!  Thanks, Shonda