‘See Education not as an end in itself but as the first step in a process which should continue through a lifetime’
Caroline Pratt- American progressive education reformer and Unit Block designer
Watching children play with blocks I am always struck by the depth of their learning and the complexity of the concepts they seek out, grasp and develop. Block play might not seem like hard work or complex maths but examine it a little deeper and there is a huge range of numerical and mathematical work at play here! One of the earlier skills in numeracy is considering scale, which one is bigger, which is the smallest? In block play we see children innate experimenting with this idea even from the earliest of learners. Children discover quickly that it is easier to stack smaller onto larger, that some are the same and some are not, that some can have a small side and a larger side. This mathematical understanding gives children a practical, first hand understanding of shape and 3 dimensional form of how objects relate. Think about how we discover early physics, curved shapes may roll, flat sides do not, force may need to be exerted to topple something. All these key understandings of shapand 3d form can be explored freely through block play and given time and independence children begin to discover maths and physics in action, in a way that excites them and will underpin their formal education and lifelong learning.
Let’s look at the common schema observed in children’s play, ‘positioning schema’. A schema is referred to in early learning as a pattern of play, repeated interests and behaviours exploring something. ‘positioning schema’ is common in young children, demonstrated in a desire to arrange objects in lines, rows, or patterns, developing their knowledge of order, sequence, classification, and symmetry. Pattern making and sequencing is hugely important even in complex mathematics. You will notice when watching children play with blocks that many often naturally start by laying out, ordering or placing blocks ( and other toys) in lines. This organising is the seed of understanding in sequencing and order, such a key concept in maths and physics.
This leads us on to consider sorting and categorisation- although this may not immediately strike you as ‘maths’ sorting and categorising is important in early numeracy development, think about categories such as ‘triangles’ they may all be quite different but they have defining features that make them a triangle, then further on we come to even numbers, prime numbers, fractions, the list goes on! Blocks provide a perfect opportunity to explore this, in many nursery setting blocks are stored according to shape and size, this is an intentional practise that encourages categorisation and sorting when children select blocks to use and tidy them away again, they learn to place like with like, recognising common features and differences and distinguishing clearly between them.
‘ I discover for myself’ – Elinor Goldschmeid on childrens early learning
What better way to begin a love of learning and discovery than through child led play!
