In our School-age program, we provide abundant opportunities for free play using a variety of materials that capture the children's interests, such as kinetic sand, cars, paper and markers, cards, and board games. Our classroom is well-equipped with toys that the teachers allow the children to explore, offering even more options for creative play.
One of the favourite activities among the children is building with wooden blocks, a pastime that appeals to both all children, kindergarteners and older children. Through this activity, they unleash their creativity, constructing a wide range of imaginative structures. So far, they have built everything from houses and jails to bridges for escaping from lava, roads for monster trucks to jump on, and even a bed. Additionally, they enjoy working with magnets, creating castles, mansions, cars, trucks, and intricate marble mazes. For Christmas, Santa brought a special gift—a set of marble maze magnets complete with tubes and special balls, allowing the children to build even more exciting mazes.
Building with blocks offers a wealth of developmental benefits, fostering skills in cognitive, physical, and social areas. As children balance and position the blocks, they enhance their problem-solving abilities while also gaining an understanding of concepts such as height, depth, width, patterns, shapes, and sequences; key elements that develop their math and spatial awareness. Manipulating the blocks also helps refine fine motor skills, requiring hand-eye coordination, precision, and dexterity.
Moreover, block-building encourages the children to think symbolically, as they create representations of real-world objects, further boosting their creativity and imaginative thinking. This activity also provides a valuable opportunity for collaboration, as the children share ideas, communicate, and work together, strengthening their social skills in the process.
In addition, these hands-on activities offer a rich, multifaceted learning experience, allowing children to explore, create, and develop essential life skills. We eagerly anticipate the incredible creations they will come up with in the future as they continue to explore the possibilities with blocks and other materials.
