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Block Play: To Construct or De-Construct?

When I was in our storage cupboard, it suddenly dawned on me that we have not used our standard blocks in a long, long while. Well, it seems the children felt that way too as they were so excited when they saw them in the classroom.


A flurry of children ran over to the carpet once free play began. They frantically began to pull out the blocks, no matter the size or shape. There was a sense of urgency in their movements almost as if they were frightened that if they didn't take them out fast enough, they would be taken away.

The following conversation took place during building:

Rhys: We are making a house.
Emma: Yes, we are.
Rhys: Excuse me, Connor, the road is in the way.
Connor: The road is getting bigger.
Matias: Make this here.
Connor: Look at this big house. I made a big, big, big house.
Rhys: No Connor, I am making a road.
Sebastian (entering the play area): Is this a volcano or something? Who built that?
Connor: We are making a house.
Emma: We are making a house.
Jack (coming over to the block area): How did you make that?










Emma: We can try again. We just broke it. We can make it fancier. OK, that will be gooder. Don't worry, we can fix it up.
Jack: Oh, no, my thing just fell.
Sebastian: Beep, beep...I got more boxes.
Jack: This tower is getting really big.
Sebastian: Boxes, more boxes.
Emma: Thank you, bud.
Jack: This town is getting wrecked.
Miele: We need a Statue of Liberty. Or a statue of a penguin ( she laughed at her idea)
Connor: (Laughed loudly at Miele's comment)
Makena: (coming over): Can I play with you?
Emma: Our town is destroyed.

A few things I found of particular interest:

  • The children are now working together, towards a common goal. And yet, they still have an ability to parallel play, even when working towards this goal. They weave in and out through their own ideas and self-talk into the ideas of the group. I think this is different from adults and I have an appreciation of this ability. 
  • The children are quick to anger but also so very quick to forgive (mostly). A few times I overheard a child use an unfriendly tone to tell a friend something. Of course, part of me wanted to jump in and remind them to use a kinder, gentler voice. And, yet, I also felt it was important for them to have a chance to work these moments out on their own, even if it meant not the 'perfect' expression of feelings. 
  • Many children were able to ignore potentially annoying behaviours. There was one boy who kept touching a girl on her shoulder, pushing a block into her leg and making odd sounds close to her ear. She just kept on playing; I am not sure whether she was so engaged in her own play that she did not notice or whether she just didn't care. This made me realize that what we adults might deem 'unacceptable' may in fact be 'acceptable' for children.
  • The children celebrated the destruction of the structure as much as the building. They began to build and purposely knock down the blocks. This became a very bonding experience as they all began to smash down blocks, making eye contact with each other and saying things like "Ohhhhhhh" in unison. It was loud, very loud as the large blocks tumbled to the floor. Children learned to get out of the way pretty fast! For the record, no injuries were sustained during the crashing of these blocks! 






I am curious to see what they do with the blocks tomorrow.

Other moments from our day:

Jordyn enjoyed piling the cards in one tall heap and then sweeping them down into a staircase with her hand. She said "I didn't know it could do that!"

Koltyn spend quite a while at the art table making his flower collage.


Rhyan took over from Joban's work on the hammering  activity.

Pie day tomorrow! The children voted to make two pies- apple and chocolate; it may not be the flakiest crust in town but it will be made from scratch!

Emily





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