Building Blocks
Children benefit from having an assortment of different types of building blocks that complement their behavior and activities at different stages of block building.”
Outdoor Constructions
The confines of a classroom space are not an issue when construction materials are moved or provided outside. Most blocks are made of highly durable materials and can be transported and used, even if they cant be stored, on the playground. Some large, portable blocks are specifically designed for outside use (see Figure 7.3).
Materials other than blockssuch as cardboard boxes, packing crates, milk crates, or other everyday materialscan offer children opportunities to apply their understanding of building concepts on a bigger scale. Outdoor constructions have the added benefit of potentially being so large that children can crawl or maneuver inside, around, and on top of them. (Revisit Feature Box 4.1, A Box with Three Lives).
Tree Blocks
Nature Explore , a collaborative project of the Arbor Foundation and Dimensions Educational Research Foundation, provides guidelines and voluntary certification of outdoor habitats for children. Their recommendations include materials for outside construction activities that include:
- “Tree cookies” (rounds cut horizontally from tree trunks)
- Tree blocks (blocks made from or to resemble parts of tree limbs)
- Miniature but real bricks that children use as they do Legos inside
- Bamboo, reeds, and tree branches that children use to build enclosures