The week in the Burrow we have had lots of interest in building!
In the Burrow we have lots of different resources which can be used for building, and the children have lots of access to these resources on a daily basis. We have used the Duplo, small wooden blocks and large wooden blocks inside and outside we have also had larger Duplo, big wooden blocks and crates and the soft shapes which have all been fun to build different things.
When you see young children building it can be easy to overlook the amazing amount of learning which is taking place. Although it may be easy to you and me to connect Lego pieces, for our two-three year olds they are only beginning to understand how to do this for the first time.
As part of our daily observations of our children we look at the Early Years Foundation Stage as a guideline to the children’s development and building towers and constructing buildings can show a huge range of developmental skills which our little ones will take on into the future. Having the ability to connect Duplo and stack building blocks on top of each other helps our children have greater control over their fine motor skills, which in time will help them to hold a pencil, write, turn pages and complete everyday tasks we take for granted. It can also help with independence and children can undo their own zip son their coats and help to dress themselves. It can also really help with concentration levels as sometimes balancing bricks can be really tricky! Our Burrow children have to be determined and problem solve to achieve what they set out to do. They have all been really proud of their achievements with one girl telling me “I’ll take it home and bring it back next Wednesday!”
The best part of all this learning which we can observe is that to the children it is just FUN! They can build their towers and best of all knock them straight down again! Have a look at some of the pictures of the children’s building this week, using different materials, shapes and sizes. Their imagination was one of the best parts of this as some children made tall towers and others made “Houses for pigs,” “Garages for trains” and “Spaceships” all showing how a simple learning resource can be transformed with a bit of imagination!
Thanks for reading!
Chynna