Today all the kids wanted to play with water! I love how much fun they have, getting wet and practicing their pouring skills.
They most often start with the toddlers pouring water out of small containers into big containers, after they have built some skill and confidence, they take great pleasure from being able to pour large amounts into tiny or narrow containers. Playing with water is almost everyone's favorite part of the day. Playing with blocks not only brings hours of enjoyment but also lots of great learning opportunities.
Motor development: Children develop large motor skills by lifting and carrying hollow blocks, stretching to put a block atop a tower, and returning blocks to the shelves when they finish using them. They refine small muscle skills when they turn an arch around to fit on the end of a rectangular block, set up animal and people props, and roll a ball or vehicle down a ramp. Hand-eye coordination: Building with blocks requires careful hand-eye coordination. To balance a tower, a child must carefully place blocks on top of each other. Likewise, putting a final decoration atop a construction requires balance and coordination. Math vocabulary: Teachers and parents can introduce words about spatial relationships: under, over, through, on top of, and inside. And, they can introduce shape-related words represented by the blocks: arch, triangle, rectangle, square, and cylinder. Architecture and engineering: To build tall and complex structures that don’t topple over, young builders apply principles of architecture and engineering, such as • Bases of structures must be stable • Structures must be balanced • Ramps are strong when they are supported • Columns can support arches and bridge spans • Tunnels will collapse if they are not built into well-supported structures • Long unit blocks and strong hollow blocks are best for framing foundations. |
AuthorMother of four, preschool teacher, herbalist, wholistic birth doula, midwife's assistant, nutritional counselor, and lover of play based learning. Archives
April 2015
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