Blocks !

Remember back a couple weeks ago when we had a technical assistance visit from Marcy and she made the comment that she suspected the next time she visited we would have a block room ? Well… obviously I am a sucker for people planting seeds and me going out sowing, harvesting and taking them to the fair.  Over break I decided to change our science / quiet room into the block room.  After many trips up and down my stairs and shifting and sometimes just sitting and looking I finally got it ALMOST to where I want it to be.

Why blocks ?

Children develop social  skills as they learn how to work together .

Children tend to spend more time actively engaged and therefor extend their attention spans.

The block center is a great place to be creative as they decide what they want to see or build and make it happen.

They begin to develop knowledge of concepts such as length, height, weight and spatial areas.

When  they build many times it takes sorting or classifying shapes or sizes to make a structure come together.

They begin to develop science process skills such as cause and effect (i.e. how high they can stack blocks before they fall), friction and gravity

Preschoolers develop their fine and large muscles (by lifting, grasping, moving and carrying blocks).

They also develop eye-hand coordination by putting blocks in specific orders or patterns.

There is so much that goes on in the block center.  But if you ask the kids…

They are just having fun.