Block play is a staple of early education. The open-ended nature of the basic wooden block is appealing to all age groups. Babies enjoy the sensory experience of holding the blocks and toddlers use schematic traits to transport them around the nursery. Older children build towers, bridges and enclosures, counting and comparing the blocks, measuring distances and using symmetry. Offering a range of solid and hollow blocks of different sizes will provide children with rich opportunities for block play.
SEVEN STAGES OF BLOCK PLAY
Children’s play with blocks changes over time. Harriet Merrill Johnson (1933) identified a series of developmental stages that all block players progress through. Rather than trying to build complex structures with them, when they are not developmentally ready, the seven stages of block play help practitioners to recognise when the child is ready to move on.
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