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Blocks Play at BestStart Lakeside Village
Block play is one of our favourite learning set-ups in ECE. Children need a lot of space when playing with blocks to boost their imagination and creativity. Block play can be explored using a variety of resources such as boxes, wooden blocks, Lego blocks, coloured perspex, soft blocks, natural tree blocks and many more.
Block play helps children gain confidence in their own ideas and abilities alongside others. It helps them learn to cooperate and share with friends. Concept of gravity, stability, balance, weight, trial and error is practiced while engaging in blocks play. Also, learning about shape, size, space, depth, width and height is evident when playing with blocks.
Moreover, children are able to develop hand-eye coordination and improve attending skills. Block play contributes to learning across all Te Whāriki strands. Specifically, it supports the Exploration strand, where children gain confidence in and control of their bodies. The Contribution strand recognises that children develop abilities and interests over a wide range of areas. Block play supports this as well as developing perseverance and commitment to a task. Additionally, within the Communication strand, block play helps children to discover and develop different ways to be creative and expressive.