Interest Areas Blocks

Block City What are you able to build with your blocks? Castles and palaces temples and docks. Rain may keep raining, and others go roam. Let the sofa be mountains, the carpet the sea, There I’ll establish a city for me… By Robert Louis Stevenson

Activity Video- The Creative Curriculum for Early Childhood

How Does Blocks Enhance Children’s Development in These Areas?  Physical  Social  Cognitive  Emotional

How Does Blocks Facilitate Literacy in These Areas?  Expanding children’s vocabulary and language  Understanding books and other texts  Teaching children about print, letters and words

Stages of Block Play  Carrying blocks  Piling blocks and making roads  Connecting blocks to create structures  Making elaborate constructions

Locating a Space for the block Area  Enclosed on 3 sides  Noisy part of the room  Large enough to spread out  Appropriate flooring

Selecting Blocks for the Block Area  Hardwood unit blocks  Hollow wooden blocks  Plastic hollow blocks  Foam or plastic blocks

Suggested Props and Accessories for Block Area  People, family and community worker set  Animal sets  A set of cars  A set of other construction and transportation vehicles  A set of traffic signs

Suggested Props to Rotate in a Blocks Area  Hats  Steering wheel  Floor map  Doll house with accessories  Puppets

Suggested Props to Rotate in a Blocks Area (continued)  Blankets and/or sheets (to facilitate the building of tents and furniture)  A large appliance box to use as a building  Aluminum foil covering blocks  Masking or colored tape for marking roads on the floor  Books that relate to the topic of study

Guidelines for Supporting Children’s Play in the Block Area  Organize and arrange the physical space  Allow children time to create  Acknowledge children’s construction in meaningful ways  Follow the child’s lead during play  Help children with problem solving

Guidelines to Support Positive Social Interactions in the Block Area:  Assist children in joining groups  Help the child find a way to add to the play  Model language children can use to enter play  Be ready to facilitate sharing and taking turns  Offer alternatives to the child waiting for a turn  Be empathetic  Help children to understand that accidents are not intentional  Assist children to problem solve when conflict arise

Checklist for Developing Your Classroom Block Area