Looking for some cute but functional play room or kids room decor? My DIY pattern block book ends are easy to make and I have a trick to put them together so the blocks are reusable and repositionable if you choose to move them or change them up.
I’ve talked about Magna Tiles in the past and how I pretty much think they are the best toy ever. But I wanted something a little bit new and different for Kayla. She is very interested in anything related to art and design so when I saw these pattern blocks from Mindware, I knew they were just perfect.
The pattern blocks came with tons of inspiring design cards that a child could replicate to explore and discover new ways of looking at shapes in a very visually appealing way. In fact, I can see turning these cards into some DIY coasters, but one project at a time! I bought a couple of these cork lined trays. I liked how versatile they were and thought they might make the perfect frames for my bookends.
I wanted to preserve the pattern blocks so that no matter what they could still be used for play or the pattern in the frame could be changed. Rather than gluing the blocks in I chose to use some glue spots. They’re very sticky and strong, yet you can still easily remove them without damaging the blocks.
I played around with a few different potential patterns before settling on this fairly simple rainbow for my rainbow loving child. Using larger blocks created a nice weight so the bookends were sturdy enough to hold some fairly heavy books in place.
And that was it. I definitely spent more time playing around with the pattern blocks and making patterns (which apparently is fun for people ages 3 to 30 something) than I did actually assembling these DIY bookends. At under $30 for a nice large set I think they’re a great price for a quality wooden toy. They’re educational and get kids to think about spatial reasoning and how shapes can be composed of other shapes. This is one of those timeless items that you can pull out for a 5 year old to enjoy and if left on a coffee table there is no doubt an adult or two will want to play with them at a holiday party.
If you’re thinking about trying my DIY pattern block bookend idea just pin the image below and it will be waiting for you when you’re ready!
