Block Play + Preschool = AMAZING
I have been teaching for a long time. I have always said that if my administration were to come into my classroom and tell me I could only have one center, it would be blocks. Without a doubt, without even thinking twice. Blocks provide an opportunity for children to learn and grow in so many areas of development. It isn't just about balance and spatial awareness, although that is a HUGE part of block building. Blocks are an open-ended material that allow children to create what they see in their amazing imaginations into a tangible structure that they can interact with. Blocks give children an opportunity to problem solve with other children, problem solve with the space around them and work through the many emotions that inevitably come from structures not being "perfect", falling over or being accidentally knocked over by another child's body. While working in the block area, children are working on fine motor skills, math skills, science skills, social skills and more. Children can practice delayed gratification by continuing to work on the same structure for days at a time, waiting to use the specific materials that are currently being used by another child and being encouraged to draw their structure out before building it, just like architects do! Some of my favorite moments in the classroom have come from the block area. From children mastering the skill of balance, working in small groups to create beautiful structures to watching concepts that I have been trying to teach suddenly "click" in a child's mind, the block area reminds me to dream, imagine and try, try and try again to "get it right". Check out some of my favorite block area moments from the past couple of weeks!
Do you see the fine motor skills that are being worked on in this picture? Balancing a plastic mammoth onto a rug can be difficult, but this child kept at it until they mastered it!
This child sorted dinosaurs by color while matching the dinosaur to the appropriate colored unit cube, all while using fine motor skills and learning how to balance the small animal on the small block.
Lining unit cubes up across the length of the rug in our block center required this child to talk to other children about what they were doing in order for the structure to not get "knocked over".
"I worked so hard! This is a amazing structure!" (3.11 year old child) She used loose parts along with the building materials we provided for her to create her "amazing structure".
Sorting by color and type.
Adding a mirror with small table blocks gave the children a different point of view to build upon.
A habitat for dinosaurs. Each type has it's own section of the structure. This child sorted the dinosaurs, created the spaces, including a "play room" and used hollow blocks, unit blocks and magna tiles.
Stacking unit cubes onto a unit block while sorting by color and trying to make a "tall tall tower".
Combining unit blocks, hollow blocks and ramps. It's simply beautiful!
Check out this amazing article from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) on the benefits of block play!
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