"Supporting children's early development together" |
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Play is crucial to children's development. It is the way they make sense of their world, how they engage with learning and how they develop and refine skills so why would we ever consider anything other than a playful and play-filled environment? As educators and families we need to promote, encourage and, dare I say it, demand more play every day...even better if you can find playful moments as adults too. Enjoy this edition and feel free to get in touch if you have any questions, ideas or insights! And …🙏🏼please share this so that I can reach more passionate educators and communities.💖 (subscription option at the bottom of the newsletter) Deb 📨deb@elfwa.com 📞0427770531 |
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Block play - why it is fundamental in your ECEC |
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Playing with blocks is more than just fun—it's a crucial foundation for future learning and development. When children engage in block play, they are not only exercising their creativity and imagination but also practicing, understanding and refining a range of cognitive and physical skills. Manipulating blocks helps children develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination as they grasp, stack, and manipulate pieces. These actions require precision and control, laying the groundwork for later activities like writing and drawing. |
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Block play fosters spatial awareness and understanding of concepts like shape, size, and proportion. As children experiment with different arrangements and structures, they begin to grasp fundamental principles of geometry and physics in an intuitive way. Building with blocks encourages problem-solving and critical thinking. Children learn through trial and error, figuring out how to balance blocks and create stable structures. This process boosts their confidence and resilience when faced with challenges. Socially, block play promotes communication and collaboration when children work together to build elaborate constructions. They negotiate roles, share ideas, and learn to cooperate—a vital skill set for navigating relationships and teamwork in the future. |
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Blocks - understanding of mathematical concepts through hands-on exploration and experimentation. |
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Counting and Number Sense: Children often naturally count blocks as they build structures. This helps develop their understanding of numbers and quantities. For example, they may count how many blocks are needed for a tower or how many blocks are in a row. Measurement and Comparison: Block play encourages children to compare sizes, lengths, heights, and weights of different blocks. They learn concepts such as bigger, smaller, taller, shorter, heavier, and lighter through hands-on exploration. |
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Patterning and Sequencing: Blocks can be used to create patterns (e.g., red, blue, red, blue) or sequences (e.g., small, medium, large). These activities introduce children to basic concepts of patterns, sequences, and even simple arithmetic (e.g., adding blocks in a sequence). Shape Recognition: Blocks come in various shapes and sizes. By handling different blocks, children learn to identify basic shapes like squares, rectangles, triangles, and circles. They also start to understand 3-dimensional shapes like cubes, pyramids, and cylinders. Problem-Solving and Reasoning: Building with blocks requires planning and problem-solving skills. Children must think ahead about how to balance blocks, fit pieces together, and solve structural challenges. This process enhances their logical thinking and reasoning abilities. Mathematical Language: Through block play, children naturally engage in conversations about shapes, sizes, patterns, and numbers. They learn mathematical vocabulary and concepts through interaction with peers and adults. Mathematical Concepts in Play: As children construct towers, bridges, and buildings, they engage in activities that involve concepts of stability, symmetry, balance, and proportion—all of which are foundational to understanding more complex mathematical principles later on. |
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What a joy it was to run 2 sessions at a Public Library in Perth- each session fully booked with caregivers and babies 0-3. The sessions involved songs and movements to highlight body awareness, relationships, body language and gesture as well as playing with scarves, drums, maracas and bells. Bubbles, puppets and dancing added to the fun. Contact me if you want marvellous music moments. |
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What can we do to encourage caregivers and educators? Share these ideas: |
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Leading Youth Forward (LYF) provides long-term, one-to-one mentoring and large group activities for teens in years 7 -10. As an advisory panel member, I was invited to talk to the committee about play. It was such an honour to share how play helps us develop, heal and make sense of the world around us. These are incredible young professionals who are always looking for ways to boost the trajectory of teens, and play is the way! |
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Follow for tips on instagram and facebook |
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Childhood is a fleeting and precious time that should be cherished and protected. Allowing children to engage in play without rushing them into structured activities or overscheduling their days, fosters creativity, imagination, and a sense of wonder. By prioritising play and resisting the urge to rush childhood, we can let children create an environment that promotes holistic development and lifelong well-being. |
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| | ELF is always happy to be involved in helping families and communities to ensure our youngest citizens⏭️ thrive and flourish. | | |
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| | EVENTS Family and Community 🌳Play in the Park 🪄📖Storytime magic 🖖🏾Sensory Play 👶🏽Baby time ECEC professional learning 🗣️communication 🏫early development 🥹😢behaviour 📖talking and vocabulary 🏃🏽gross motor and fine motor All available in your towns and communities so please feel free to share . | | |
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