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District News

Busy Builders

By Nomculelo Nyathi | 20 Apr 2021

Busy Builders!

 

This morning the children spent a lot of time in the block center.  I watched as they took out all the blocks and hammers from the shelf and proceeded to work side by side.

     

 

Then they started working together, putting the small blocks in a row, and taking turns pushing them, causing a ripple effect!

“Let’s build a house!” a child shouted.

The play then shifted to building! I watched as they started stacking the blocks together, then pausing to hammer them.

                                               

The children worked quietly on their building, sometimes they worked together passing blocks to each other and sometimes just side by side. Occasionally the children would communicate.

“let’s stack this one here.”

“No, I want it here.”

Everything came to a stand still when they decided their building was ready to be occupied. One child wanted baby dolls to go in, the other wanted animals to go in.

“let’s put the babies in!”

“No, animals!”

We took some time to problem solve together and decided the babies and animals could take turns being in the house. After the decision was made, they decided they wanted to go in the house instead! The children took turns going in the house.

  

To extend their play I decided to bring out more blocks and suggested we build a bigger so they could both fit inside. The children happily agreed, and we got to work.

Learning Opportunities

The block center presented a lot of learning opportunities today. “…children learn by doing when they are engaged in projects and inquiries that extend their interests” (Early learning framework, 2008, p. 65). By engaging together and with available materials in the block center, the children sharpened their problem-solving skills while bringing their separate visions to life. “Providing time, space, and materials rich with possibilities for experimenting, imagining, and transforming allows children to create and explore in diverse ways based on their interests” (Early learning framework, 2008, p. 75).

  • The children were afforded plenty of material to explore.
  • Each child was encouraged and supported in getting their ideas across.
  • Children were given plenty of uninterrupted time to build and explore.

Possible extensions

  • Find construction/building books and place in the block center for inspiration and learning.
  • Find recyclable materials to build with.
  • Use different materials to build.
  • Learn about different houses around the world!