Nuggeteer At Play with The Garcia Gang
When Vanessa and Daniel (@the.garciagang) first got a Nugget for their son, Cruz, he was 5 months old. Now, at 2.5 years old, he can help make different Nugget builds! Daniel shares, “Some of the things important to us as first-time parents were helping Cruz develop a sense of risky play to help promote his motor skills and spatial awareness. We quickly found that the Nugget was the perfect toy for him as he learned how to climb and balance in a safe environment. As Cruz has grown we’ve added two more Nuggets, and even gifted one to our niece.”
Cruz has loved climbing the Nugget since day one. First he used it to pull himself up, then cruise around, and finally to climb from point A to point B. He knew how to climb before he started walking! “As parents, it can get scary sometimes, but we have learned to trust that Cruz knows what he can and cannot handle. Since having the Nuggets, we have learned to trust Cruz’s toddler instincts,” says Vanessa. Here are some of Cruz’s favorite ways to climb, using one, two, and three Nuggets, as shared by his mom and dad, Vanessa and Daniel.
Favorite One-Nugget Builds
We live in an apartment and space is limited, so we’re constantly rotating our toys, including Nuggets! Sometimes we have all of the Nuggets out and some days we have one, depending on Cruz’s needs.
Our favorite one Nugget build is great because it has both a climbing option and a fort option. We use the thinner piece with the triangles and the thicker piece is used for climbing. 
This is our favorite build for when Cruz wants to jump. We use triangles to prop up the thick and thin pieces of the Nugget. 
Favorite Two-Nugget Builds
Cruz loves slides so we always have to have a slide configuration, like this one, where he uses the couch to climb up and then the ramp to slide down. You can see how we just add additional pieces to the one-Nugget build we use for jumping!
A second build we like to do is a tall slide. We stack all the pieces, use the triangle as stairs and one of the thicker pieces as a slide because it holds up better. The slide is a good space saver build since it's stacked vertically. Pro tip: Build up against a wall for more foundation.
Bonus fun: When we want to switch it up, we take out our ball pit balls and make a Nugget ball pit for Cruz on the weekends. We use the wall along with two other Nuggets to create a barricade so the balls don’t come out very easily (although they still find their way out because toddlers are smart).
Three Nugget Build
Epic builds await with three Nugget slides and forts. We use the triangles to hold up the tall fort area, where he likes to hide in the bottom area, and then we build out slides in all directions. We also use our toys like the Pikler triangle or balance board to add to the fun and variation of Nugget play. 
He loves climbing and then sliding down, until it collapses and it’s time to rebuild!
We love how the Nuggets inspire a little budding engineer in him, and honestly, in us as parents — we love learning together and find that the Nugget is teaching us something as well. As parents of young children, you have to remember that if you build it for them, they will play.
Thank you to Vanessa, Daniel, and Cruz for sharing their favorite build ideas with us!