Skip to main content

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





Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Mosaic Garden Stones

Today our children had an amazing opportunity to work with Glen Anderson, a local artist specializing in mosaics. You can see his work at http://www.mosaicplanet.net . I met Glen last year at Urban Weavers Studio in Strathcona. I asked him many, many questions about mosaics, all of which he patiently answered with expertise. I was gearing up for an art project in our preschool class so I really wanted to get any pointers I could from him. The plan was to have our students make mosaic tiles to place along our fence at the garden plot at Terra Nova Farm. They worked out very well, thanks to Glen's great advice and it was a beautiful moment when child and parent hung the stones at the farm on our last day of school. It was a moment of great pride for all of us. The garden that they cared for with their own hands- tended to its needs in sunshine and in rain. They will always remain part of that space, that land and their stone will remind them of this connection. Even though they turne...

3 Year Old Class - Westham Island Herb Farm Field Trip

Our threes class recently visited the Pumpkin Patch at Westham Island Herb Farm in Delta. After a relatively short and scenic drive through Ladner en-route to the farm, we crossed a small, one-lane bridge that remarkably has been in place since 1911.    Westham Island Bridge We arrived at the farm in the early morning, before the school buses appeared. It was a very peaceful time of the day, and the morning mist floating over the fields only enhanced the feeling. Westham Island Herb Farm is a community oriented farm that promotes buying fruits and vegetables from local sources. This farm is part of the Ellis family farm and they have been in this location since 1916! Upon arrival at the farm, we were greeted by a beautiful display of pumpkins in all shapes and sizes. Prior to the tour of the farm, we visited the general store, which showcased a large variety of homemade jellies and honey selections such as wild flower, raspberry, pumpkin and ...

A Day at the Farm... with a twist

We were all looking forward to heading to the farm. We had not been in two whole weeks so we were all experiencing farm deprivation disorder! We craved outdoor time, running on the paths, and checking out our favourite spots. We had no particular agenda- nothing to plant, nothing to weed, nothing to harvest and literally nothing to do! Perfect!!  Actually, we did have one special thing happening there but I will get to that in a moment. The children could not get off the bus fast enough, bounding down the tall stairs. Jackets on, zipped up, hats and mitts on, ready to face the chill of December. The children tossed their knapsacks onto the picnic table with abandon, and began to run around the courtyard area, obediently staying on the paths  ( finally, four months later they have learnt to stay out of the garden beds). They shouted, they chased and fell down! Once our initial burst of energy was out (only slightly), we walked over to the compost to see what the worms w...