Construction works for children. This is not news. There is plenty of evidence over the years from some of the great pioneers, most notably Froebel, and recent research backs this up (see box).
We also have to acknowledge the many early years practitioners, whose names we may not recognise but who have built up their knowledge of how young children learn and develop from their day-to-day observations and have shared their experiences with others. Discussions with parents have added to the evidence that children love to create spaces and to construct, with whatever they can get their hands on.
Construction play is important for young children's learning because:
- it is engrossing, exciting and enjoyable
- it offers children an opportunity to explore what they know, helping them to make links with their own experiences
- children learn best when they can work at their own level, thinking up their own ideas and using resources in their own way
- children can choose to play alone, alongside, in a group or with an adult. Through shared discussion they learn to co-operate and solve problems together
- opportunities can be offered to create their own spaces. They can make up imaginary worlds and real-life scenarios. Creating stories helps the development of thinking
- construction aids the development of fine and large motor skills and can be available inside, outside, on a large or small scale
- open-ended construction resources offer opportunities to explore, to try and try again, change things, reflect and revisit ideas
- construction offers learning possibilities across the curriculum. For example, in mathematical development, children can learn about shape, length, weight, size, fractions and numbers in a practical way
- there are opportunities for literacy development through the use of fiction and non-fiction books to support children's interests. The addition of paper, card and mark-making materials encourages children to make signs, labels, notices and plans of their work
- there are rich opportunities for planning, designing and making using a wide range of exciting resources
- it provides resources through which children can explore schematic ideas such as lines, boundaries, connection, enclosure and envelopment. What this looks like for different children will depend on previous and present personal experiences. If we know this about children, then it makes sense to take account of it when planning our provision.
What might an ideal construction area look like?
In our ideal nursery, there are two construction areas inside and a large construction area outside. The large and small construction areas are situated in a corner of the room, well defined using screening and open shelves and away from quiet play areas.
The floor is carpeted to accommodate a comfortable space for children to work on. Positioning the areas in close proximity enhances and increases play opportunities.
Open shelving, with equipment templates on them, accommodates solid blocks, while labelled baskets contain small construction resources and other permanent provision such as clipboards, mark-making materials and books.
A set of large hollow blocks is stacked against a wall for easy access and putting away, and a plain screen offers surfaces for displaying images and children's representations.
There is a shelf available in the small construction area for children's ongoing and completed work. All the free-standing screens have stabilising feet. The areas have been deliberately positioned next to the home area to encourage play to flow between the areas and increase opportunities to develop imaginative play.
Two children have gone straight to the large construction area inside. The adult based around the area has noticed that the children share a similar interest in enclosing and enveloping. Over a period of a few days, the adult has observed and listened to the children's ideas. She has supported them in recording their work by taking photographs, drawing plans and writing down their comments.
This documentation enables the children to revisit what they were doing the previous day. It also helps the adult to guide the learning in a way that will make sense to the children. With the support of the adult, they reflect on what worked, what didn't, and how they can recreate and develop what they did previously.
The adult draws the children's attention to the other resources available, such as an appropriate book, and helps them to develop their ideas through shared discussion.
How do you choose the right resources for the construction areas?
An overwhelming range of construction resources are available commercially. However, gimmicky or elaborate equipment can be avoided.
Large construction blocks
- Choose equipment for its 'open-endedness', flexibility and sound educational value.
- Buy the best you can afford.
- Consider durability and how pieces of equipment will complement each other.
- Offer a variety of different shapes and sizes.
- Less is more. One good quality set of large hollow blocks can be supplemented with open-ended recycled materials such as cardboard boxes, insides of carpet rolls and crates.
- A full set of wooden solid blocks covers a complex range of mathematical attributes.
- Large hollow blocks can be bought to extend the introductory set.
Small construction kits
- It is better to have a good supply of two or three commercial construction sets that work well together than a mishmash of lots of different sets in small quantities.
- Think carefully about how children may be using the area to explore schematic ideas such as connection, enclosure, vertical/horizontal/diagonal lines and rotation, and select sets that will support and extend these interests.
- Ensure the range covers the children's developmental stages. For example, provide simple connecting and interlocking resources but make sure more complex sets are also available.
Diana Lawton is an early years consultant
RECOMMENDED BEST BUYS
Community Playthings: hollow blocks (available in two sizes)
Community Playthings: solid blocks
Duplo Lego
Mobilo Duplo figures
Lego simple figures
Britains or similar good-quality animals/dinosaurs/sea creatures
Duplo vehicles
Brio wooden train set
MORE INFORMATION
- Exploring Learning: Young children and blockplay, edited by Pat Gura with the Froebel Blockplay Research Group directed by Tina Bruce (Paul Chapman)
- The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) (www.ioe.ac.uk/projects /eppe)
CHECKLIST: BASIC RESOURCES
- Clipboards, mark-making materials, paper and card for representing and recording ideas, making labels/name cards for models
- Laminated images to support predictable and present interests
- Selection of non-fiction books permanently available to cover subjects such as castles, houses, bridges, vehicles, railways, roadways and harbours
- Local street maps and aerial photographs
- Recycled materials
LARGE CONSTRUCTION
Inside
- Hollow blocks and solid wooden blocks - combining these increases opportunities for learning. For example, children can place solid blocks within hollow ones (as part of their enveloping and enclosing schemas which are the beginning of understanding fractions)
- hard hats, play tool boxes, rulers and tape measures
- box of reclaimed materials in a variety of shapes, sizes and materials such as cones, carpet squares
- basket of drapes, in various sizes and textures
Outside
- Large hollow blocks (if possible)
- solid steps and hidey hole
- crates
- tyres
- planks
- large cardboard boxes and tubes
- box of wood offcuts (sanded)
- steering wheels
- ropes and string, washing lines and pegs
- selection of drapes - different lengths, textures and patterns
Small construction
A low table offers a different level to work on, or can be used to display a small-world environment linked to a current interest. - Enough components of two or three construction sets that support children's current schematic interests and allow groups of children to work without running out of resources. Include plenty of cogs and wheels.
small-world resources to extend imaginative play, including:
- people (of various cultures and ages)
- domestic, wild and prehistoric animals, sea creatures and minibeasts
- vehicles, including cars, lorries, diggers, boats, bikes and aeroplane
- train and train track