Since the children are interested in blocks, Jessica brought some tube-shaped blocks for the children to build and explore. During the activity, the children used their creativity to build different things.
Ford used different shapes to build a big piece and told Jessica that it’s a vacuum. He also pushed and pulled his, “vacuum,” to show how to use the vacuum. Then, he built a big piece of tool and he put it to his mouth to blow into the tool. It seemed that Ford built a trumpet and friends enjoyed his performance.
Ezra built a long tube and said, “woah woah." I wondered if he made a hose that could shoot water.
Charlotte made a cup and she enjoyed a sip of her tea. Jackson was trying to build as tall as he could. Ben made a tube with a wheel on and he told Jessica that it’s a lawnmower.
At the end of the day when Ben’s mom picks up, Jessica told about Ben’s lawnmower story and Ben’s mom shared Ben saw a lawnmower at his grandma’s house. That’s why Ben was talking about it all day today and built it.
António made a spray. He used a wheel and a T-shape tube to create a spray. He also blew through the tube. I wondered if he made a bubble? He also made a U shape tube (one side shorter and one side longer). He put the shorter side to his mouth and the longer side by his face. I wondered if he was getting ready for Summer and pretending he was diving in the water?
The children also said a lot of words during the play, such as water, it’s a wheel, help please, etc. It showed that the tube blocks were encouraging the children to use their words and communication skills. The children were also interested in the shapes of the blocks. They would pick up the tube and look closely at different angles. Some of the children liked to spin the wheels. I wondered if they thought that’s a pin wheel?
Block play requires fine and gross motor skills. Blocks enhance children's problem-solving abilities, mathematics skills, and language and literacy abilities. Constructing, “creations,” builds self-esteem and feelings of success. To extend this activity, we can add water or sand and build a tube rail to transport water or sand.
