Each day I receive a little excerpt from Childcare Exchange Magazine, a few days ago I received this one::
In 1913, Caroline Pratt was a young teacher working in Manhattan. Having grown up on a farm, she understood about hands-on learning. But she realised that city children were deprived of much of the practical know-how that seemed natural to country kids. This concern, coupled with inspiration from the Froebel course she’d just completed, led Pratt to design the Unit Block. Its mathematical proportions and open-ended nature blend perfectly with Froebel’s philosophy.
Because there is no “correct” use of blocks, children have no fear of failure. Imagination guides their play, and each experiment encourages the next. While observing block play, adults can almost hear a child’s thoughts! Block play allows children to represent ideas in concrete ways – preparing their minds for more abstract forms of symbolism, such as written language. Block play supports knowledge and understanding of the world as children create miniature environments and experiment with concepts like design, symmetry and balance. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright attributed his success to an early love of block play. To learn more, watch this video.
Watch the video to learn more.
Did you know children could learn so much from "playing" with blocks?
The kids played with these for hours. I wish I could find some of their creations to share with you...
My children had three sets of these (Baby Bee now has one set) We still have the other two.
The "block corner" was one of my favorite places to play with the children. I also saw some of the most inventive and creative creations while observing children "play" in the block corner.
Did you enjoy the block building when you were a kid?
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