Earlier this month, due to the advisory of the air quality, we had some days that we had to stay inside to keep our infants safe. So our busy bees stayed in the hive!
Throughout the week the children have shown an interest in manipulating the blocks. The children were given the toy blocks, and some of the children started to stack them. We took this idea and got enough stacking materials to do it as a whole group. The children used the various stacking objects such as the wooden circles and flowers that they place onto the stand, plastic cups, and colourful cups. Giving them a variety of different shapes and materials give them the opportunity to explore and manipulate the material however they want. Offering the different shapes encourages the children to learn and identify how shapes look. As we observed, we saw the children had an ultimate goal of making a tower, they used and enhanced their fine and gross motor skills.
They used their fine-motor skills to carefully set the next item on-top so their tower would topple. This also encouraged them to work on their hand-eye coordination. Their gross motor skills were challenged when having to move their body to get the materials. Another great skill that we saw the children actively doing is problem solving; They realized that there was an order in which the blocks were stacked so it would be a more stable structure so they can ensure they can build it taller. With those skills comes learning about cause and effect, and when the structure becomes too tall or off balance it falls. All the sounds of “oouuu and ohh nooo'' surfaced and the expressions they made were also part of their learning process. We also saw the children displaying/working on patience when wanting to play with a certain toy. The children were working on their language when saying “my turn” or “turn please” as it is a very important social skill at this age since they are still developing their vocabulary. The children displayed how they can share and take turns, such as one child at a time placing one block, then the next child stacks one, and so on. This was great to see the children all engaged together as a group. The children were able to form/develop positive relationships and further their friendships.
What a great challenge for our busy busy bees!
