‘The symbolic life of the child uses life experiences in increasingly abstract ways’
Tina Bruce
What are you able to build with blocks? Castles, roads, homes, beds, caves, hotels, tunnels, farms, the list is endless! Bringing in other toys block play enables. Children to bring their visions to life, play out scenes and enact both first hand experiences and begin to create stories…
Unlike many other toys children are presented with, blocks do not have a fixed purpose or defined representation- they are not ‘a telephone’ ‘an apple’ ‘ a truck’.. but they could be! Or they can form that blank canvas- the supporting role for other toys, the missing part that allow children to not just enact with the toys they have been given but to develop and enhance, and thats where the truly imaginative play begins.
Children need time to explore blocks and it takes time to develop sophisticated and complex play. Professor Tina Bruce, in her writing on early years education and the characteristics of play speaks of ‘wallowing’ in play, that captivating stage a child reaches where they just want to keep exploring, keep imagining, not breaking the bubble of their creative vision to go to dinner, get dressed or tidy up! Parents and practitioners quickly know what their children’s current interests are and how this love of a particular subject feeds into all their play, conversation or perspective on the world. This is a brilliant way into block play- harnessing that interest the child already has and introducing blocks to enhance this. The more the child uses the blocks the more possibilities occur to them, maybe this is by experimenting or watching others, it is all part of the imaginative process that develops into rich play- the wallowing that Tina speaks of.
Oplay blocks relate to one another consistently in scale, meaning they can be mixed and matched to balance and construct. However they have also been designed with the proportions of other toys and children’s hands in mind making them intuitive for young learners to combine with figures, vehicles, small world characters and animals at home or in nursery. As a practitioner and parent I observe children incorporating blocks with other toys on a daily basis and the variety still astounds me. Children work collaboratively to create a pool, complete with changing rooms and a diving board- all using rectangular and cube blocks, finished off with little figures they have moved from a dolls house. Blocks are configured into a large imposing tower, adorned with dinosaurs to guard the landscape. My own child uses blocks to build elaborate train stations, platforms, ramps, car parks and ferry terminals to transform our living room alongside his trains, tracks and vehicles, the world reminiscent of places we have been, the island that his great grandparents stay on and the long and involved journey we take to get there- continually reimagined from his perspective.
As we watch children play we catch a privileged glimpse into their world, both the imagined and experienced- but both so real. For many children, play and toys do not fit into neat categories of ‘the train set’ or ‘dolls house’ – they are not sets to remain separate and compartmentalised but are all tools to explore create and enact in a world of their creation where they have control and autonomy. Blocks allow children to bridge those gaps seamlessly and symbolise anything they wish, actively and instinctively.
‘Play is an active process without an end product. When the play fades, so does its tangibility. It can never again be replayed in exactly the same way. It is of the moment and vanishes when the play episode ends.’ – Tina Bruce (https://www.froebel.org.uk/about-us/the-power-of-play/froebelian-approach-to-childhood-play)
